Video Poker Glossary - Terms, Jargon, and Definitions
This page offers definitions of some commonly (and not so commonly)
used video poker terms and jargon.
86
Used to describe the act of a casino barring a player. Rare with
professional video poker players, but could potentially be an issue.
Much more common with card counters.
Action
The amount of money wagered. The total action is the total
amount of all wagers placed.
Bank
A row of video poker or slot machines.
Bankroll
A person's gambling stake. How much money is available to be
wagered. See also
video
poker bankroll.
A bank or multiple banks of slot machines or video poker
machines, usually linked to one progressive jackpot.
Cash back
A rebate to a player for being a member of the slots club.
Change person
The person working the slot machine floor who makes change and
refills the machines. Video poker machines are treated exactly like
slot machines for this purpose.
Coin in
The amount of money played through a machine. This is used to
determine cash back. See "action".
Comps
Free meals, tickets, or perks given to a player by the casino in
appreciation of that player's action.
Cycle
On average, how many hand it will take to win the jackpot on a
video poker machine. For most games, the jackpot is won on a royal
flush, and the cycle is approximately every 40,000 hands or so.
There is no guarantee of hitting the jackpot in one, two, or any
number of cycles though, in spite of the somewhat misleading phrase.
Deuces Wild
A variation of video poker where the 2's in the deck are wild.
Drawing hand
A poker hand (or
video poker hand) which needs to receive a particular card in
order to improve.
Expected return
The long term payback on a gambling machine. This can be
positive or negative, and is calculated by multiplying the house
edge by the average hourly wager. See
video poker expected return.
Expert play
Playing according to a computer-prescribed perfect
strategy.
Face card
The jack, queen, or king.
Full pay
The best payout structure offered by a commonly found video
poker machine is called a "full pay" machine. Please note that this
does not indicate a positive expected return; 9/6 Jacks or Better is
a full pay game but the house still have about a 0.5% advantage with
perfect play.
Hopper
The container holding the coins underneath a slot machine or
video poker machine.
House edge
The casino's mathematical advantage, expressed as a percentage
of each wager.
Inside straight
A straight that can only be filled by hitting a card on the
inside of a 5 card sequence. For example, 4578 would require a 6 to
fill the straight.
Joker poker
A variation of Jacks or Better with a 53 card deck. The extra
card is a joker, and it's a wild card.
Jokers wild
See "Joker Poker".
Kicker
A high non-paired card that's held in the hopes of breaking a
tie in poker. Kickers should never be held in video poker.
Outside straight
A straight that can be filled by hitting a card on either end of
a 5 card sequence. For example, 4567 can fill a straight with either
a 3 or and 8.
Payback
This is the percentage that a machine will pay back on the
amount wagered over the long term. If a machine has a 101% payback,
then it will return $1.01 for every $1 wagered, or $101 for every
$100 wagered. Short term results will vary widely from the payback
percentage.
Payoff
The amount that the machine pays off for a particular hand. On a
Jacks or Better game, the payoff for a pair of jacks or better is 1
for 1, which is basically a push.
Pay table
The schedule of how much each hand pays in a video poker game.
This is usually found on the glass above the screen.
Progressive jackpot
A constantly growing jackpot that is "fed" by a network of
gambling machines' players. Applies to slots or video poker. See
progressive video poker games.
Push
Basically a tie. The player neither wins nor loses any money.
Rank
The numeric value of each card.
RNG
Random number generator. A computer chip that determines the
outcome of electronic games of chance like slot machines and video
poker. In video poker games, the RNG simulates a deck of cards.
Short pay
A video poker machine with a less than full pay pay table.
Slot club
A casino program which pays comps and rebates to players who
participate. A rewards program for gamblers.
Volatility
The amount of deviation from the long term expected return on a
video poker machine that someone can expect. The harder it is to his
a jackpot, the higher the volatility of the machine.
Wild cards
In poker, a card that can substitute for any card in order to
make a hand.
