Online Video Poker Cheat Ridiculous or Genius?

The craziest video poker strategy that just might work! (Given enough time and money)

Lately, I’ve been researching some rather strange online casino cheats and questionable strategies. For the most part, I’m on a mission to debunk the truly inane ones in hopes of steering players in the right direction. But I came across one that literally had me scratching my head and saying, “Hmmmm”.

I’m talking about an online video poker cheat that is either outright ridiculous, or pure genius! I’m honestly not sure which. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time, patience, discipline or bankroll to test this theory for as long as it would take to find out. If any of you want to give it a shot, please let me know your results in the comments below!

UPDATE: No, this strategy does not work! See complete update at the end of this article for details.

Crazy Video Poker Strategy that Just Might Work

The goal of this video poker cheat is to force a machine to award its highest payout for a Royal Straight Flush. Those who tout its validity—which aren’t too many, bringing into great question whether it would work—say it’s a flawless trick. But we hear lots of crazy untruths on the world wide web, and seriously, how large would your bankroll need to be to pull it off?

The theory is that a player can force the machine to produce its highest-paying hand by simply avoiding any and all other payouts. How do you do that? By throwing away any good cards that would likely produce such a hand.

According to the online video poker cheat, a player should only hold cards if they include 3 or more cards that would make up a Royal Straight Flush. For example, an Ah, Qh and Jh should be held, but an Ah and Kh alone should not.

The problem with this plan…

…is that you must throw away any other potentially winning hand. If dealt a high Pair, or even 3 of a Kind, you must discard it. Three of a Kind generally pays about 15x the stake. How easy will it be for you to throw away a hand that pays for your next 15 attempts? It would take severe discipline and unwavering trust in this video poker strategy for anyone to bring themselves to do it.

However, the idea is that, since video poker machines run on a computerized random number generator (RNG), which produces a probable return to player (RTP), it will work. If the machine is taking in too much money, it will eventually have to make up for that by paying out a higher prize. And for this reason, it is at least possible that it could work.

On the other hand…

The theory behind this video poker cheat actually working is that the games operate on a combined RNG and RTP, the same way slot machines do. But is that really the case?

The RNG is the mechanism that randomly decides what cards will be dealt. The probabilities of being dealt any card are based on the exact same, random probabilities, of a real deck of cards that were shuffled and dealt by a live person. Therefore, it should not be required for a video poker machine to meet an RTP. In order to be certified for fairness, as all reputable iGaming software must be, it is only required that its RNG be accurate.

If the machine is not built to notice that it’s paying out at a lower rate, who’s to say that it will suddenly try to produce high-paying hands? How would that be as random as a real, live deck? And if that’s the case, players are throwing away one potentially winning hand after another on the false belief that they’ll produce a massive win.

This is something I’m going to have to look further into, because there’s no known information about it on the web (that I’ve found). I’ll be sure to update this page as soon as I gather more info. Until then, be careful about trying out this video poker strategy, unless you have a lot of extra cash to burn.

UPDATE: This Video Poker Cheat CANNOT Work

My previous fears were confirmed today. I’ve asked several experts with inside sources in Las Vegas and the online gambling industry. This is not a hack, and will not work. Video poker machines, both online and on land, do run on a genuine-probability RNG, but are are not required to meet an RTP.

According to one of my sources, a video poker expert and professional actuary whose business it is to study odds and probabilities, “The law states that the manufacturer can assume that the player always acts in his/her best interest… meaning that they play perfectly.”

Most, if not all, gambling regulators enforce similar laws. The end result… DO NOT attempt this highly erroneous video poker strategy!