Video poker is said to be one of the easiest of all casino games. It has several variations, but its general rules are pretty much the same for every video poker game. Video poker is an exciting combination of slot machines and some online poker strategies. Like slots and poker, video poker can be played either live or online, since all the action takes place on a video screen in both live and online version.

Progressive video poker is a popular and profitable type of this game. The best strategy applicable in video poker is to aim for the progressive jackpot. This choice increases your odds making this game more profitable, and thus enjoyable too. A traditional video poker machine works by offering larger payouts in order to make stronger hands. Progressive machines operate in the same way, except that with an extremely strong hand such as royal flush, you can win the progressive jackpot.

So, practically, the progressive jackpot is a special, large jackpot offered for a very big hand. Its peculiarity is that the amount in the jackpot increases with a certain quantity for every play on a connected machine. Usually, in better casinos one player can even win one fifth of the house wedge in only one game. This makes this game very attractive. Generally, only a small fraction of the house's gaming machines are connected to a progressive jackpot. But at these houses there is a constantly changing meter, often displayed on large, fancy led displays. While a royal flush would normally value quite a bit, usually around 800-to-1, in the progressive jackpots machine this might bring you hundreds of thousands of dollars. The reason they can offer so much is that every machine that is linked to the progressive jackpot pays into the same pool. This means that a percentage of every dollar invested in every related progressive video poker machine is combined to create an enormous pool of money. Further more, in online video poker where there can be much more machines tied into the progressive jackpot, these jackpot pools can rise to incredible heights.

Therefore the only way to win a progressive jackpot is obviously to play a progressive video poker machine, and to go for the strongest hand when opportunity comes. Hitting a royal flush, for instance, is said to be extremely hard and on rare occasions. However it suffices to hit only once for you to become a past hope progressive video poker player. What is very important, is to stick to your video poker strategy and play the maximum amount of coins allowed per hand when playing a progressive machine. If you play less than the maximum, you will win the only regular payout for your eventual royal flush, which would be a disaster if you finally managed to hit it.

Another winning strategy on progressive video poker is to compute an optimal playing strategy based on the frequency of each payoff against the odds of hitting that payoff. Since the jackpot of a progressive video poker game is constantly growing, it might even reach a break-even point where the machine becomes a positive expectation bet for the player. When the progressive jackpot is less than the break-even point, there is a negative expected value for all players. This is the house edge.

In the long run, with optimal strategy, a video poker player can make a nice profit. Unfortunately though the "long run" generally means longer than most people think. It might take tens of thousands of plays. The reason why the break-even point in video poker can be calculated is that the payback percentage for the game is a function of the paybacks and odds of the poker hands, which is based on a 52 card deck.

Good to know that those players who only play when the progressive jackpot provides them with a positive expectation situation generate revenue for the casino. This is a unique situation where the player has an advantage over the house. Yet the casino is still making a profit from the player. This situation can occur because the bulk of the progressive jackpot has been bought by the other players' contributions to the jackpot.

Drafty gamblers sometimes organize teams to play machines where the progressive jackpots generate a positive expectation situation. Such teams often negatively influence the ordinary players, making the machines unavailable just when they are at the hottest situation. Team members will often have mobile phones and work in shifts, calling another teammate to replace them when they're ready for a break. Some casinos have a policy of "no team play", and will exclude players suspected of playing in such teams.

One last issue still is to be mentioned, the meters of progressive video poker machine. Just when playing video poker and getting the closest to a wonderful progressive jackpot, there are certain circumstances and cases in which the meter movement is practically the same as landing the jackpot. This is because that may be just what it does for you. If the video poker meter is doing such, three conditions are to be applied. First of all there is an unlimited player’s bankroll, which allows you to continue playing, since you practically never run out of money. Secondly, the play time seemingly lasts forever. Third and most importantly you don’t have the threat of other players to steal your wonderful video poker jackpot because its you to win at the video poker machine.

So, as the above mentioned induces, progressive video poker turns out to be an extremely interesting game which is said to be easy to learn, enjoyable to play in the best online casinos and profitable if you take it in serious. All in all, we can state that all you need is a PC, the internet, and lot of patience for a great progressive video poker game where you can even hit the royal flush jackpot.