PaiGow Poker Strategy
By Jean Real

Paigow poker has been one of the most recent games to enter mainstream casinos and since its recent appearance it has become one of the most popular casino games. The game originated in China and was originally played with tiles or dominoes. As the game was introduced in the West, variations started appearing until the Paigow was paired with Poker. Since 1987, when the game was introduced in Las Vegas and subsequently in Atlantic City, Paigow poker has become a standard casino game. Let’s look into what it takes to win at Paigow Poker.

For best results you must apply the “House Way” strategy but there are different interpretations of what this is. Superior Casino offers an efficient House Way option that you may click on when you play Paigow Poker, helping you decide what the best split for your hand is. Here are some additional tips that can help you win.

How to make a good split? If you get the following cards, here’s a safe way to get the best results:

No pair: Place the highest card on the bottom hand and the next highest two on the top hand.

One pair: Place the pair on the bottom hand and the next highest two on the top hand.

Two pair:

· Low pairs should be split, unless you have a king or better card to put on the top hand.
· A low and medium pair should split, unless you have a king or better card to put on the top hand.
· Low and high pair should split, unless you have an ace to put on the top hand.
· Two medium pair should split, unless you have an ace for the top hand.
· Medium and high pair should always be split
· High and high pair should be split

Three pair: Place the two highest pairs on the bottom hand.

Three of a kind: Always place the three-of-a-kind on bottom hand unless they are aces. Then split and put an ace on the top hand.

Straights, Flushes and Royal Flush: Keep these on the bottom hand unless you also have two pair, three pair or three of a kind. Then use the two pair, three pair or three of a kind rule.

Full House: Always split, leaving three-of-a-kind at the bottom and pair on top. Exception: having 2’s for pair with Ace and King. Keep the Full House and put Ace/King on top hand.

Four of a kind: Keep if 6’s or below. 10’s through King’s split always unless you have an Ace to put on the top hand. If four Aces, always split.

Visit our weekly blog for more tips on how to win at Superior Casino.

An introduction to Poker
by Jean Real

Poker has become a new favorite game for most casino-goers. However, the experience can be intimidating as you play and bet against other real people and understanding the game is a must if you are playing against experienced players. Although Poker is an exciting game it is not made for all people. Some of the excitement can be rescued however if you try our Video Poker machines, that reproduce the rules of a normal poker game but you play against the casino software and not against real opponents. Here’s some information that can help both new and experienced players win at Video Poker.

Most people are unaware that Video Poker has one of the highest payback rates of all casino games. Over the long-run games like Jacks or Better pay back 99.5% of the bets they receive. Others like Deuces Wild, that have wild cards making it easier to create winning hands, have payback rates of nearly 100%. However, to take advantage of this your skill is required and you must play with the optimal strategy to get the best results.

Take for example, Joker Poker. Here’s what you are likely to receive on your first draw hand:

Cards / Chance of getting
One Pair of Tens or less 42.34%
One Pair of Jacks or higher 14.19%
Two Pairs 4.83%
Three of a Kind 2.21%
Straight 0.71%
Flush 0.27%
Full House 0.15%
Four of a kind 0.03%
Straight/Royal Flush 0.01%

The better the hand, the better payout you will be getting but this does not mean that you will always try to aim for the highest paying hands. This is a mayor mistake when playing at Video Poker. You must try 90% of the time to get the closest winning hand to your initial draw hand since there is a higher chance of getting lower-paying hands than the higher-paying.

On Video Poker single pairs of 9’s or below don’t pay, most people prefer to hold a Jacks or higher card than to keep a pair of 3’s in their initial hand. The optimal strategy here however is to hold the low-card pair and click on the deal button hoping to turn that initial pair into a three-of-a-kind. Otherwise you will only have less than 14% chance of getting that Jacks or higher card, while you will have more than 18% chance of getting the three-of-a-kind.

Another common mistake is to try to get a flush when you already have a winning pair in your initial hand. For example, if you have a King/spades, 7/spades, 5/spades, 9/spades and a King/diamonds. Some people prefer to drop the diamond king to get the higher-paying flush than to keep the certain 1-for-1 win. The odds are not too bad for getting that flush (20%), however, this must be done rarely, once every 10 similar hands, to ensure the best pay back rates.

If you have a winning pair in your initial hand plus a high “kicker” card (J,Q,K,A), throw the kicker out before you deal. Don’t keep the kicker card, as in Video Poker this is not a good strategy. It’s better to take the risk for a three-of-a-kind or better hand, than to try to get the two pair.

Finally, if your initial hand has no low pair or high card, hold no card and deal for five new cards. The only exception would be if you have at least 3 cards for a straight or flush.

With these tips in view your Video Poker experience may improve. Join now to play any of our 7 Video Poker machines with multiple-hand and double-down options.