Do you have an iPhone?  They seem to be everywhere these days and people are building applications for them as fast as they can churn them out.  And these days you can even play video poker on your iphone.  So I thought I’d take a look at the options.

There are two different reasons to play poker on the iPhone and they require different approaches. First, you might want to play video poker simply to practice your strategy. If this is your purpose, you’ll want to check out the various applications that you can download and play on without being connected to a casino, depositing or using real money.  This is a great way to get in some video poker practice on if you plan to visit a casino in the future or if you just want a low risk way to spend some time.  There are plenty of video poker applications out there offering various games. Most of these will run you a couple of bucks for the game.

The second reason to play video poker on the iPhone is to play at a real casino for money. There are a handful of online casinos out there that offer the option to play on your phone.  Now if you’re playing for real money, the casinos are glad to provide you with free access to their games.  Many will even provide free practice games in hopes that you may eventually make a deposit and play with real money.  Now my advice for online players is to look for a casino that offers regular web play (from your laptop or desktop) as well as play on your iPhone.  This will provide you with more options when you want to play at home and perhaps let the iPhone be a phone.

I still remember way back when I started playing video poker. One thing that always bugged me was — if I have been dealt a hand with a low pair (say a couple of 3s) and a single high card (say a Q) , which should I hold.  For some reason, I seemed to keep stumbling over contradictory advice. Everytime I had it figured out, someone would give me different advice.  And the problem was that holding the high card seemed logical.  After all, if I’m holding one queen, there are three queens left in the deck and I just need one more to win.  If I’m holding a pair of threes, there are only 2 threes left in the deck and I need one to win.  Yes, there’s the off chance of drawing another pair, but by that standard, there’s probably a better off chance of hitting second pair if I just hold the queen. After all, if I hold a pair, I’m only drawing three new cards. If I hold the queen, I get four new cards.  Now, see where I was confused? 

But I that was before I considered the possibility of hitting four of a kind.  Well, actually that possibility was made astoundingly clear in a game where I held the high card and would have drawn four of a kind if I hadn’t.  I’ve now developed a video poker strategy called “moves that won’t make me jump off the roof.”  (For those concerned. I live in single story house and would probably only sprain an ankle.)  But the “jump off the roof” strategy goes like this — which would you rather miss drawing?  A high pair, which in jacks or better pays 1 for 1 or even money. Three of a kind which pays three to one and brings in a little money. Or a potential four of a kind which pays 125 to one and can make your day. 

If I discard the queen and miss getting a high pair, I’ve lost my original bet but not really lost out on a great hand.  It’s not a loss that’s going to make me jump of the roof.  But if I discard the pair and miss four of a kind, well, someone get out the ladder.  I’ve got some climbing to do.