Keno Draw Poker Video Poker Guide

Keno Draw Poker video poker makes for one of the most ingenious twists on basic video poker found in casinos or gambling websites. Players can skip all the extras and simply play basic video poker at a Keno Draw Poker machine, choosing among one of many popular pay tables that are available. Or they can add on some extra bets that really spice up the game by adding the chance to play keno along with their video poker hands.

Video poker makes for one of the simplest and most exciting forms of casino entertainment available. But there are some gamblers who find that the basic form of video poker, Jacks or Better, gets a little stale. This form is closely based on the card game known as five card draw. Gameplay doesn’t change much once you’ve learned it, and there aren’t many chances for big payouts other than the royal flush hand, which comes along very rarely.

That’s why video poker manufacturers started to spice things up by adding slight twists to the basic formula. On the one hand, they created different pay tables which allowed for more aggressive payouts on more reachable hands like four of a kind. They also created games with extra features that allowed for slight deviations from the basic formula of deal and then draw.

One of the most radical of these games with extra features has to be Keno Draw Poker video poker. As the name suggests, it combines two of the most popular forms of casino entertainment into one big game. If you can’t decide whether to play keno or video poker, you can play both.

But you can’t do so without paying a price. To play both hands of video poker and a side round of keno, you have to bet in excess of the normal maximum wager of five credits per hand. Considering that Keno Draw Poker video poker is only found in casinos in triple play mode where you must bet on three hands at a time, that can get seriously pricey.

But you get great benefits for making those extra wagers. With that side round of keno, you can pick up extra winnings and have multipliers tacked on to any of your winning video poker hands. The more that you bet on top of your normal max bet, the higher those rewards can be.

As a result, you are giving yourself more chance to win than would normally be the case. You could win on your video poker hands or your keno round. And if you happen to get it going where you hit on both, the payback can really be something else.

In the following article, we’ll explain how to play basic video poker and go into basic keno a little bit as well. Then, we’ll show you how it all comes together for Keno Draw Poker video poker. And we’ll talk a little bit about what the extra twist to the game adds to pay tables and payback percentages while also explaining how to develop strategy for this unique game.

Playing Basic Video Poker

In Keno Draw Poker video poker, you get to combine the best parts of video poker with a take on keno. But video poker already, in its own way, takes a little bit from slot machines and table games. So, this specific machine can really give you a little bit of everything.

People love video poker for many reasons. On the one hand, you get to play at a machine without any hassles. It’s just you against the machine, with no distractions from employees or patrons. It is also a game which translates extremely well to online play, since the screen of a phone or tablet can look just like the screen of a video poker machine.

There is also no way for you to know how often you can expect to achieve certain spins with a slot machine. It’s all a bit random, but video poker rectifies that. You get to make decisions which can help you win, and the probabilities of a deck of cards allow you to know roughly how often winning hands show up.

The payback percentages for most video poker machines are pretty solid as well. They are certainly better than the average slot machine. And, for the most part, the top video poker paybacks come out at roughly the same level as even the best table games.

Before we get into how to play Keno Draw Poker video poker, you first need to understand the basics of video poker without any kind of extras added to it. The good news is that this is not a hard thing to do. Even if you don’t know the basics of poker, it is something that can be learned in just a few minutes.

With that in mind, let’s take you step by step through a typical hand of video poker, from putting your money into the machine through actually playing a hand, and perhaps continuing to play or cashing out.

Step 1: Your Bankroll

The bankroll that you use to play video poker will be established when you put money or a redemption ticket from the casino into the machine. If you are playing the game online, you’ll have to create an account. Once you get all that of out of the way, you will see your money registered on the screen in credits or coins.

Each credit will be equal to a single unit of the denomination. Some machines allow you to choose your denomination, which can be small like a nickel or a bit more substantial like a dollar. Others will have the denomination already predetermined.

When playing Keno Draw Poker video poker, you should consider several factors before determining the size of your bankroll. First, to activate the keno feature, you’ll need to be betting 10 or 15 coins per hand while playing three hands at a time in triple play. In addition, you have to remember that video poker can be played at a rapid pace, usually several hands per minute once you get the hang of it.

Step 2: Your Bet

In most video poker games, you are faced with the choice of betting between one and five coins per hand. When this is the case, you should always go for the five-credit wager. It is the only way that you can take advantage of getting a royal flush hand to the fullest.

When playing Keno Draw Poker video poker, things get a bit more complicated. The only way to activate the Keno feature is to bet either 10 or 15 coins per hand. As we’ll see when we talk about payback percentages, it is actually beneficial to your long-term payback if you play 15 credits per hand, which is quite an expensive proposition.

You’ll have to decide what you’re looking for out of the game. If you want a better chance for big payoffs in the short term and the best long-term payback percentages, you should go for the extra bets. But if you want to keep things simple with Keno Draw Poker video poker, you can just bet the one through five coins and play basic video poker, although you can do that on any video poker machine if you wish.

Step 3: Your Hand

For now, we’ll just count on the video poker aspect of Keno Draw Poker video poker. When you make your wager, five cards will appear on your screen. From these five cards, you’ll be trying to make the best possible poker hand, knowing that you’ll have a chance to discard the cards that aren’t helping and replace them with others from the deck.

The hands you’ll be trying to make are similar to the ones that you would try to make while playing poker games of any kind at home or out with friends. Here are the most common ones that pay off in video poker:

• Pair of jacks of better
• Two pair
• Three of a kind
• Straight (five cards of consecutive rank, like 3-4-5-6-7)
• Flush (five cards of same suit)
• Full house (three of a kind and two pair in the same hand)
• Four of a kind
• Straight flush (straight with five cards of same suit)
• Royal flush (ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of the same suit)

Reading this list from top to bottom, the ones at the top of the list pay the least and are the most common to make. Meanwhile the ones at the bottom are extremely hard to make. Your pay table will show you the exact amount that you will receive for each hand.

When you receive your five-card deal, you might have some cards that already form one of the winning hands above. Even if you don’t, you still have the chance to create a winning hand on the draw round. The draw round allows you to replace the cards that you don’t feel are helpful to you by using others from the same deck that you were originally dealt.

For example, you might receive the following on the deal:

In this hand, there are three different combinations that are connected to winning hands from the list above. Obviously, the pair of jacks is already a winning hand. That means that you already stand to win your money back and could easily improve the hand into something more lucrative if you throw out the six, seven, and eight and get something better on the draw.

On the other hand, you also have the option of going with the four diamonds in the hand, which is just one short of a flush. And with the six through eight of diamonds, you have what is known as an open-ended draw to a straight flush. Even though you might have a hard time getting the cards you need, the payoff would be huge with that hand.

These decisions will be presented you to often when playing video poker. You have to judge your chances of making each hand against the payout that you might receive if you can make them. Once you make your decision, you will press the “Hold” buttons on the machine under the cards that you wish to keep.

That will effectively end the hand. Any winnings that you amass will be added to your credits; you won’t see anything deducted when you lose, because that will already be taken care of when you bet to start off the hand. You can then decide whether you want to play again or cash out and walk away.

That shows you how to play video poker one hand at a time. Note that Keno Draw Poker video poker is a triple play game, which means you’ll be playing three hands at a time.

You must bet on each of the three hands. You will receive just one deal, meaning that your decision about what to hold and discard will then be replayed through all three hands. Three different draws will take place from three different decks holding the 47 cards you did not receive on the deal. Your outcomes on each hand will be scored separately since you are likely to receive different cards on each draw to complete the hands.

Playing Keno Draw Poker Video Poker

The first thing you need to know about Keno Draw Poker video poker is that you can choose to play it without the keno portion by simply betting one through five coins for each of the three hands per round. Once you make an extra bet of five or ten more coins on top of the normal max bet of five coins, a keno card will appear on your screen.

For those who have never seen keno in a casino, it is somewhat like bingo but without letters, only numbers. You choose certain numbers, anywhere from two through 10, out of 80. The machine will then draw 20 of those per round, and your numbers will ideally match the ones that have been drawn.

You can choose up to 10 numbers. The higher the percentage that you hit, the more you get paid. Your best possible payout would be if you chose 10 numbers, and all 10 matched during a round. But you can get paid no matter how many you pick originally, as long as you hit a certain percentage.

The number that you hit each round will be known as the “catch.” There will be predetermined amounts for each “catch” out of the numbers you have chosen, just as a pay table will tell you how much you will win for a specific winning hand.

When you add keno to Keno Draw Poker video poker, you can benefit two ways. First of all, there is the payout for how many you catch. For example, if you bet ten extra coins, pick seven numbers on the board, and catch four of them, your payout is 135 coins.

But that isn’t the only way that you get paid. When you catch a certain amount, you will always be rewarded with multipliers for your video poker hands. In the above example, you would receive a multiplier of 12x. What does that mean?

Well, let’s say that you end up with the following three outcomes in triple play: a pair of kings, three of a kind, and a full house. Normally, on a Jacks or Better pay table with five coins wagered, you would receive 5, 15, and 45 coins for those hands, for a total of 65 coins. But with a 12x multiplier, those winnings will all be multiplied by that amount.

That means that your payouts are:

• Hand 1: 12 times 5 = 60 coins
• Hand 2: 12 times 15 = 180 coins
• Hand 3: 12 times 45 = 540 coins

That adds up to 780 for the poker hands. And don’t forget that you made 135 coins just for catching five on the keno side. The total payback is 915 coins, which, minus the original 45-coin bet (15 coins times three hands), gives you a stunning profit of 870 coins on a single round of Keno Draw Poker video poker.

Of course, this is a best-case example. The good news is that Keno Draw Poker video poker gives you two chances to win, either by succeeding on the video poker part or the keno part. But you also have to consider that there will be times when you don’t hit either of the two, which could be costing you 30 or 45 coins per round, depending on how high you went with the extra bet.

The key thing that you have to understand is whether or not this extra feature is worth it. And the answer is a qualified “yes.” Payback percentage, which is a calculation of what you can expect to receive from a machine on a long-term basis, goes up slightly when you play with the extra feature. Betting ten extra coins instead of five is also slightly preferable, although there are exceptions depending on the pay tables and the amount of numbers that you play on the keno board.

While expert players might want to dive into the minutiae of the numbers, you might be better off simply deciding what kind of experience out of the game. For those who like to go for big payouts and don’t mind spending a little bit more to get it, even if it means you might lose your bankroll quicker, you are better off going for the extra feature and playing the keno, ideally as many numbers as possible. If you really want to keep your expenses down, you might want to consider going to a different machine.

Keno Tables for Keno Draw Poker Video Poker

These tables will show you how much you will get for each catch, both in terms of your straight payout and the multipliers that will be added to your poker hands. We’ll also talk about how to read them afterward.

5 Credit Keno Bet Payoff/Multiplier

Catch	Pick 2	Pick 3	Pick 4	Pick 5	Pick 6	Pick 7	Pick 8	Pick 9	Pick 10
2	24 / 5	4 / 2	2 / 2
3		100 / 6	7 / 2	10 / 2	6 / 2	1 / 2
4			120 / 4	35 / 7	8 / 3	2 / 2	4 / 2	2 / 2
5				2100 / 7	150 / 9	30 / 4	25 / 7	10 / 3	10 / 3
6					3000 / 9	600 / 4	225 / 9	85 / 7	50 / 9
7						10000 / 9	3000 / 7	700 / 7	300 / 9
8							20000 / 7	10000 / 7	2000 / 9
9								20000 / 7	9000 / 9
10									20000 / 9

10 Credit Keno Bet Payoff/Multiplier

Catch	Pick 2	Pick 3	Pick 4	Pick 5	Pick 6	Pick 7	Pick 8	Pick 9	Pick 10
2	77 / 7	16 / 2	10 / 2
3		250 / 12	30 / 3	20 / 3	15 / 2	5 / 2
4			540 / 12	70 / 12	25 / 7	10 / 2	12 / 2	5 / 2
5				4500 / 12	400 / 12	135 / 12	75 / 8	25 / 6	25 / 5
6					8750 / 12	2475 / 12	575 / 12	250 / 12	125 / 12
7						30000 / 12	8400 / 12	2050 / 12	800 / 12
8							50000 / 12	25000 / 12	5000 / 12

In terms of reading these charts, let’s say that you made the ten-credit bet on keno (on top of the five-credit video poker wager). And let’s say that you picked the maximum 10 numbers on your keno card, which would be represented by the “Pick 10” column.

If the keno draw ends up with you catching 6 of the 10 numbers, then you can follow the “6” catch row over to the Pick 10 column and you’ll see the numbers 125/12. That means that you won 125 coins just for the keno, and there will be 6x multipliers added to any of your winnings on your video poker hands.

Pay Tables for Keno Draw Poker Video Poker

There are eight different sets of pay tables from which you can choose when playing Keno Draw Poker video poker. Each are based on a popular variation of the game, and each has several different variations depending on where you find the game. Your choices are:

• Jacks or Better
• Bonus Poker
• Bonus Poker Deluxe
• Double Bonus
• Double Double Bonus
• Triple Double Bonus
• Deuces Wild
• Deuces Wild Bonus

Here is a selection of some of the pay tables from those games, all of which represent the highest payback you can expect from a Keno Draw Poker video poker machine:

Jacks or Better Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a kind	25	50	75	100	125
Full house	9	18	27	36	45
Flush	5	10	15	20	25
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of a kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pairs	2	4	6	8	10
Jacks or better	1	2	3	4	5

Bonus Poker Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Royal flush	200	400	600	800	4,000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a kind (aces)	80	160	240	320	400
Four of a kind (2s, 3s, or 4s)	45	90	135	180	225
Four of a kind (any other)	20	40	60	80	100
Full house	8	16	24	32	40
Flush	5	10	15	20	25
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of a kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pairs	2	4	6	8	10
Jacks or better	1	2	3	4	5

Double Bonus Poker Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four aces without any 2,3,4	400	800	1,200	1,600	2,000
Four 2s, 3s, 4s without A,2,3,4	160	320	460	640	800
Four aces	160	320	460	640	800
Four 2s, 3s, or 4s	80	160	240	320	400
Four 5s through Ks	50	100	150	200	250
Full house	10	20	30	40	50
Flush	7	14	21	28	35
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of a kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pairs	1	2	3	4	5
Pair of jacks +	1	2	3	4	5

Triple Double Bonus Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Royal flush	200	400	600	800	4,000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a kind – A, 2, 3, 4 kicker	800	1,600	2,400	3,200	4,000
Four of a kind – 2s, 3s, or 4s with A, 2, 3, or 4 kicker	400	800	1,200	1,600	2,000
Four of a kind – Aces 5s – Ks kicker	160	320	460	640	800
Four of a kind – 2s, 3s, or 4s 5s – Ks kicker	80	160	240	320	400
Four of a kind	50	100	150	200	250
Full house	9	18	27	36	45
Flush	7	14	21	28	35
Straight	3	6	9	12	15
Three of a kind	2	4	6	8	10
Two pairs	1	2	3	4	5
Pair of jacks +	1	2	3	4	5

Deuces Wild Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Four deuces	200	400	600	800	1,000
Wild royal flush	20	40	60	80	100
Five of a kind	12	24	36	48	60
Straight flush	9	18	27	36	45
Four of a kind	4	8	12	16	20
Full house	3	6	9	12	15
Flush	3	6	9	12	15
Straight	1	2	3	4	5
Three of a kind	1	2	3	4	5

For those who have never played a game with a wild card before, it simply means that the card that is determined wild can be used as any other card in the deck to give you the best hand. In the case of Deuces Wild, the wild cards are the twos in the deck. Because wild cards create better hands than games without them, you can see from the pay table above that the threshold for getting paid is much higher than in the other tables where wild cards aren’t involved.

You might notice, if you are a veteran of video poker, that some of these pay tables are a bit shy of what are known as the “full-pay” versions. A full-pay table represents the absolute highest payback percentage you can expect from a game. For example, a full-pay Jacks or Better pay table actually pays off the flush hand at 6 to 1 and not 5 to 1 as in the table at the top of this list.

What that means is that you will have a hard time matching those full-pay payback percentages, even with the keno option in play. If you are going to play a video poker game long-term, you should always try for the games that give you the best chance of making a profit, especially when you also consider the chance of casino loyalty programs adding to your bottom line. Those who simply want to have fun in the short term can certainly find a lot of excitement and fun in Keno Draw Poker video poker.

Strategy for Winning at Video Poker

In the case of Keno Draw Poker video poker, you might think you need to know what the strategy is for keno as well as video poker. But keno really requires no strategy, since the results of each draw are random. As we stated above, your payback percentages are at their highest if you make the ten-coin extra bet and play numbers, but mostly there is a lot of luck involved.

Video poker, on the other hand, is another matter. We showed you above the example of a hand that can be approached three different ways. But there is only one right way and, by “right way,” we mean the way to play the deal that gives you the highest expected value.

When playing a hand just one or a few times, you can get away with the mathematically incorrect choice because luck might help you out on the draw. But, over time, consistently making incorrect choices will bring down your payback percentage. That’s why you have to learn how to make the right hold and discard for every possible deal you get in Keno Draw Poker video poker.

How do you do that? Well, first, you should decide what pay table you want to play. It’s hard enough to learn perfect strategy for one pay table, learning eight is really a burden.
Once you’ve done that, you should check out one of the two methods below to achieve perfect play:

• Strategy Charts: These charts can be found online and printed out so that you can memorize them for the pay table that you choose and carry that information in your head with you when you go to the casino. A chart will list every possible combination of cards that you might receive on the deal and rank them from most to least beneficial. When you find the combination nearest the top of the chart that matches what you have in your hand, you’ll know which cards to discard.
• Video Poker Training Software: This software can be customized for whatever pay table you want to learn. It simulates video poker play and forces you to make decisions on holds and discards. When you make an incorrect decision, it will let you know so that you don’t make that mistake again.

Advantages and Disadvantage of Keno Draw Poker Video Poker

Advantages of Keno Draw

• Completely unique version of video poker
• Two different ways to win at any time
• Access to many different sets of pay tables

Disadvantages of Keno Draw

• Might be confusing to new players
• Pay tables aren’t quite full-pay
• Expensive to play, especially in triple play mode

Conclusion on Keno Draw Video Poker

When you talk about video poker games that do a little bit of everything, whether you find them in a casino or on a safe online gambling website, Keno Draw Poker video poker has to be high on that list. The thrill of matching a big hand with an equally big keno catch is hard to match. Just don’t forget that this extra feature costs a pretty penny and might be too rich for some to enjoy.