How To Play All American Video Poker

All American Poker is a video poker variant that plays a little bit like Jacks or Better. Essentially, the only real difference between the two is to be found in their respective pay tables.

All American Video Poker was originally a feature in land based casinos, but their unique pay table frightened people away and the game died a death even though at the time they actually paid out more than the alternative video poker machines a lot of the time.

Thankfully, All American Poker has recently enjoyed a more than overdue revival at online casinos, albeit with a revised pay table. Nowadays, they actually pay out less than when they were first introduced. Just as is the case with all video poker games, the most important aspect is the all important pay table.

How Do You Play All American Video Poker?

Generally speaking, All American Poker’s optimal strategy is quite similar to Jacks or Better. Like most video poker games, All American Poker is a contest between the player and the dealer, not other players. It is played using a standard deck of 52 cards and five cards are dealt in the first hand.

The hand rankings, rules and gameplay in All American poker are all precisely the same as Jacks or Better. This is why this variation is so easy to learn, understand and play. Also, there are no wildcards in play and no additional hands available. The only real significant differences in All American poker can be found in the pay table.

You will begin the game by choosing the size of the bet that you would like to make. As is the case with a lot of other video poker games, it is recommended that players make maximum bets with All American Poker in order to maximise their chances of winning. Normally, players can stake a maximum of five coins with this video poker variant.

When you have finished placing your bet or bets, you will be dealt five cards that the computer has picked at random. The next step is to decide whether or not you want to discard some of your cards in order to swap them out with alternative better ones that will hopefully make up a winning hand. If you do manage to make up a winning hand combination on the second draw, you will be awarded the payout amount that is stated on the game’s pay table.

There are some online variations of All American Video Poker out there that will also offer winners the chance to double their profit by placing an additional bet. Here, the game will show you one card facing up and several others facing down. Your aim is to select a card which will beat the one that is shown on the playing screen. If do you manage to achieve this, your payout will be doubled. However, if this gamble backfires and your chosen card has with a lower value, you will lose the profit you that you made in the base game.

All American Poker Hand Ranks & Pay Table

A standard All American Poker pay table on an online or mobile All American video poker game will look something similar to the one shown above.

When you compare these figures to a typical Jacks or better pay table, you will see that it looks quite different. For instance, a Royal Flush will pay the same on one to four coins but less on five coins. This means that there is no return to player (RTP) advantage to be had in playing with maximum coins when playing All American Video Poker.

So, in all, All American Poker puts a greater emphasis and rewards on the higher ranking poker hands and less on the lower hands. This makes this particular video poker variant a bit more volatile than some of the other versions, and unless you get lucky with your first few hands, you are going to be likely to need a larger bankroll in order to have a chance of getting a decent return.

This will also affect your game strategy.

All American Video Poker Strategy

If you get dealt a paying hand then you should obviously keep it. Even if you have a straight flush with the opportunity to draw to a Royal Flush, the difference in this game’s payouts means that you should hold.

Otherwise, keep these cards to try and make the best possible hand on the draw and discard anything else.

What Cards To Hold

• Four of a kind, straight flush, royal flush
• Four cards to a royal flush
• Three of a kind, straight, flush, full house
• Four cards to a straight flush
• Two pair
• High pair (Jack or better)
• Three cards to a royal flush
• Four cards to a flush
• Low pair
• Four cards to an outside straight
• Two suited high cards
• Three cards to a straight flush
• Two unsuited high cards (more than two, use lowest)
• Suited high cards 10-J, 10-Q, 10-K
• High Card Jack or better
• Discard all dealt cards

All American Video Poker is not actually as common or even as popular as some alternative video poker variants, but if you are playing at an online casino then the chances are that you will come across it at some point.

It is certainly an entertaining take on the regular game, and the higher rewards and volatility will certainly benefit some gamblers rather than others.

All American Video Poker FAQs