How to Play Rack ‘Em Up Poker Video Poker
Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker stands as one of the most involved video poker games that include extra features. First of all, it comes attached only to multiple play games that require you to play anywhere from 25 to 100 hands at a time. When you invoke the bonus, you’ll receive extra payback depending on how many of your hands improve on the deal.
One of the main calling cards for video poker is the variety. You can play simple games like Jacks or Better, which is a computerized reproduction of Five-Card Draw. Or you can try more involved pay tables, such as the Bonus Poker tables that increase payback for four of a kind hands.
If you’re really looking for a change, you can try games with extra features. Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker provides one of the most unique features. It only occurs on multiple play machines where the minimum number of hands played is 25. You could also play 50 or 100 hands at once. Considering you have to bet on each one of those hands, you can quickly see this is not a game for a small bankroll.
On top of that, you have to put up a seven-coin wager per hand to play Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker with the extra feature activated. That’s two more per hand than the normal maximum bet of five.
Once you make that financial commitment, the extra feature will come into play on your draws. You’ll be eligible for coin bonuses depending on how many of your hands improve on the draw. For games without wild cards, you have to improve to three of a kind, while wild card games require a full house.
The higher the percentage of your original hands to the required level when playing the extra feature of Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker, the more bonus coins you’ll receive. These bonus payouts come on top of the payouts you would normally receive for those hands.
The bonuses go as high as 4,000 coins for a single improvement. That’s the normal payout for a royal flush, the most lucrative hand in all of video poker, on a five-coin wager. You can see how the bonuses can really pay off in Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker.
But you also have to understand that you could lose a lot all at once if you have a bad round. You’ll have a lot of money at stake in every single round because of the number of hands you have to play. Therefore, you have to be prepared for the potential for big losses alongside the chance of massive wins when playing Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker.
In the following article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the game known as Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker. We’ll explain how to play basic video poker then go into the multiple play action that the game requires. On top of that, we’ll explain how the bonuses work as well as how strategy comes into play in this unique video poker game.
Playing Basic Video Poker
As we said above, Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker isn’t the simplest video poker game you can find in casinos or as part of top online casino sites. That’s why it’s a good idea to first get your feet wet with basic video poker before moving on to this more complex variation.
The good news is that video poker is a relatively easy game to play. You don’t need to know much about poker to start playing, although it wouldn’t hurt. Even complete newcomers have it down in minutes.
Ease of play is just one of the calling cards of video poker. It takes a lot of the best elements of table games and slot machines and mashes them together. What you end up with is a game that’s beneficial to gamblers in a lot of important ways.
Looking at the bottom line, Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker pays back pretty well. It easily outranks slot machines in that department. And it stands tall with the best table games in terms of payback.
When you play video poker, you don’t need any help from anyone else. No casino employees or patrons will be bothering you. It’s a self-contained relaxing experience. Perhaps that’s why many people compare video poker to slot machines. But slot machines require no thought. You just spin the reels.
Video poker allows some control over gameplay. You’ll have a chance to use your strategy to play the game at a high level. That strategy will be based on playing card probabilities. They’re important because those probabilities do a couple of things for the player. First of all, they’ll let you know roughly how often certain winning hands appear.
And when you combine the probabilities of making winning hands with the payback on the pay tables, you’ll know your estimated return from the game. For that reason, you’ll have the ability to compare one version of video poker to another to find the most lucrative games available to you.
Video poker also stands out because of how well it translates to online play. You won’t really find any kind of difference in gameplay whether you’re playing at a casino or on a website. The same can’t be said about many other casino games.
With all of these things working in its favour, it’s no wonder video poker is the favoured gambling entertainment of so many people. Now that you know all about those benefits, it’s time to learn how to play. Let’s walk you through basic video poker.
Step 1: The Bankroll
Your bankroll is what you’ll be using to make your wagers and will be the place where winnings will be collected. Casino players will create their bankroll by inserting money into the machine. Online players will create an account they’ll need to fund.
Once all that is done, you’ll see that your bankroll is represented by units known as credits or coins. Each credit or coin will equal one unit of the denomination you’ve chosen to play. For example, five credits on a machine with a denomination of a dime equals 50 cents (5 times .10).
Step 2: The Bet
Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker takes the basic betting format used by most video poker games and amps it up. Most video poker games require to bet between one and five coins for a single hand.
First of all, you won’t be playing a single hand of Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker at a time. You’ll be playing 25, 50, or 100 hands at a time. And you have to make a bet for each one of those hands.
Along with that, Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker also raises the maximum bet. If you bet only one through five coins per hand, you’ll be playing without the special feature. But if you do want the special feature, you’ll need to up that wager to seven coins per hand.
What does that mean in terms of total bets? Take a look:
- 25 hands = 175 coins
- 50 hands = 350 coins
- 50 hands = 350 coins
Such bets might seem a little bit scary. But remember that you’ll be winning a lot of those hands. And the bonus is set up in a way that it will usually come up in every single round.
In other words, you probably won’t have too many rounds of Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker that are a complete loss. You should also be able to find machines with very low denominations like a penny. That will keep your overall financial commitment down even with all the hands you’re playing.
Step 3: The Hand
For now, we’re going to explain the mechanics of a single hand of video poker. We’ll move on to what it means to play multiple hands in the next section, since Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker is always played in multiple play mode.
The easiest way to understand video poker is to consider it a one-person version of the table game called Five-Card Draw. Just like in five-card draw, you’ll get a deal, make discards, and draw new cards to make the best five-card poker hand.
Since it’s just you and the machine when you play video poker, you won’t have to worry about beating multiple players. Your goal instead will be to form one of the winning hands on the pay table.
Winning hands will differ depending on the pay table and whether or not wild cards are involved. For the most part, these are the hands you’ll be trying to make:
- Pair of jacks or 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)
You’ll note that some of these combinations require all five cards. Others only require a fraction of the five cards to be a winner.
You also might note that the hands at the top of the list are far easier to achieve than the ones at the bottom. And, when we get to the pay tables for Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker, you’ll realize that the hands that are harder to accomplish pay more.
Once you’ve made your bet and hit the “deal” button, you’ll see five cards on the screen. These cards are just the starting point for your final hand, which will be completed by the draw.
You have to decide which of the five cards, if any, will be worth keeping. This decision will be based on how those cards might be combined with others left remaining in the deck to make one of the winning combinations.
You’ll also have to decide if the winning hands that are within reach are worth seeking based on the payback they’ll earn. Every video poker hand is basically a push and pull between the common gambling concepts of risk and reward.
The cards that you discard will be replaced by others from the same deck which gave you the deal. This is known as the draw. The draw will come from a deck of only 47 cards, which is the regulation 52 minus the 5 you were dealt.
Once you decide which cards you’re going to hold, you’ll press the buttons corresponding to them. You’ll then hit the “draw” button and watch as the machine replaces your discarded cards with new ones from the deck. This will complete your hand.
If you wish to play again, just repeat the steps. You can walk away from a video poker machine at any time with credits remaining and receive a redemption ticket. That ticket can then be exchanged for cash.
You now know how to play a single hand of video poker. Now, you can move on to see how to play multiple hands at once.
Multiple Hand Video Poker Play
We talked above about the betting requirements for playing multiple hands at once, which is a necessity in Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker. You have to choose between 25, 50, and 100 hands of video poker when playing this game.
No matter how many hands you choose, you will receive just one deal. You’ll make decisions as if you were playing just a single hand. But those decisions will then be applied to all of your hands.
Although there’s just one deal, you’ll receive a separate draw for each hand you play. Each draw deck contains the same 47 cards. But they will all be shuffled differently by the game’s software so every single draw will be random and, most likely, completely separate from the others.
Let’s look at an example. Imagine that you receive the following deal in a 25-play game of Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker:
On this deal, you don’t have any winning hands right off the bat. But you do have several possibilities that can be made into winning hands on the draw.
You have a pair of fives, which could be improved to two pair, three of a kind, a full house, or four of a kind. Note that you also have a five, six, seven, and eight, meaning that you would end up with a straight if you discard one of the fives and draw a four or nine. And you might also see that you have the five, six and eight of clubs, which, if held, would give you a chance at a high-paying straight flush.
For the sake of the example, let’s say that you keep the Pair of Fives. On the separate draws, you might make three of a kind on a few hands. Or you could end up with a full house here or there, maybe even a four of a kind or two.
You might also have several hands where you don’t get the cards you need to improve the pair. Those hands wouldn’t return you anything.
In a multiple play round of Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker such as this, all the payback for the hands out of the 25 that contain winning combinations will be added together.
A good deal in Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker will likely pay off well because it will be the basis for so many hands. On the other hand, a bad deal will a hurt a little bit more.
The Rack ‘Em Up Poker Video Poker Bonus
When you make the maximum seven-coin wager playing your multiple hands of Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker, you open up the chance for bonus coin payouts. These bonuses will come into play when you improve from the Deal to the Draw and make certain winning hands.
On Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker pay tables with no wild cards involved, the qualifying winning hands are:
- Three of a kind
- Straight
- Flush
- Full house
- Four of a kind (two through king)
- Four aces
On Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker pay tables with wild cards involved, the qualifying winning hands are:
- Full house
- Four of a kind
- Straight flush
- Five of a kind
- Wild royal flush
- Four deuces
It is important to understand what we mean by “improve” in Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker. Take the following deal as an example, assuming no wild cards are involved:
The starting point is three of a kind. Your best play is to hold the three fours going into the draws. Based on that, take a look at the following two potential draws:
Hand 1: Four of Spades, Four of Clubs, Four of Hearts, Ace of Spades, Ace of Hearts
Hand 2: Four of Spades, Four of Clubs, Four of Hearts, Nine of Diamonds, Jack of Clubs
In Hand 1, you improved from the three of a kind to a full house. If you were playing Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker with the special feature, that would be a qualifying hand for extra coins. You would also get paid the normal amount on the corresponding pay table for a full house.
But Hand 2 features no improvement. Even though three of a kind is one of the qualifying hands that you need to get bonus coins in Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker with no wild cards, you won’t get it here because you didn’t improve from the deal. You would, however, still get paid based on the pay table for the three of a kind.
How are the bonus coins awarded? Well, it depends upon the pay table and how many hands you’re playing. It also depends on how many hands are improved.
For example, if you’re playing 25 hands of video poker and have four improve to three of a kind on a non-wild card pay table, you’d receive 25 coins on top of your normal winnings. But if you improve eight of the 25 to three of a kind, you’d get 45 coins for that.
You can also get bonuses for different hands in a single round. For example, you would get separate bonuses for getting three of a kind, full house, and four of a kind hands from a deal that began with a pair. The rarer the hand, the higher the starting point for the bonus amounts.
The highest amount for any bonus is 4,000 coins. To do that with 25 hands of Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker in non-wild card games, you’d need 15 to 25 of those hands to improve to three of a kind. Or you’d need more 10 or more of them to improve to a full house to get the 4,000 coins that way.
When you see a Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker, you’ll see charts that show the bonuses awarded based on the pay table and hands played. Check them out closely, as it will be important for you when deciding upon your strategy for each deal to know that information.
The special feature does indeed increase your payback in Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker compared to if you played the game without it. In other words, to maximize your long-term winnings in a game like this, you should be making the max bet for all the hands you play.
The bonuses in Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker can really have a major effect because they’ll always come on top of winning hands. It’s like a positive double-whammy. But you’ll need that kind of boost to make up for the rounds when the bonuses are few and far between.
Pay Tables for Rack ‘Em Up Poker Video Poker
Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker features many of the most popular pay tables in video poker. You can choose the pay table you want, then have the Rack ‘Em Up feature added to it. As we said above, each different pay table will have different bonus coin amounts applied to the qualifying hands and how much they award at each threshold.
Pay tables can be chosen based on your favourite style of play. You might want to keep things basic and stick with Jacks or Better. Or you can try out some of the more aggressive Bonus Poker pay tables.
You can also play one of the wild card variants such as Deuces Wild or Bonus Deuces Wild. It’s all up to you and it’s a decision that you can make at the start of play.
Keep in mind that you should be striving to play the pay tables that will return you the most money on average and limit the house edge. Pay tables within specific families, like Jacks or Better or Deuces Wild, often vary in payback for the mid-priced hands, like a flush (in non-wild card play) or a straight flush (in wild-card play).
Therefore, you should be focusing in on these hands when trying to determine the best possible pay tables to play on a Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker machine. Here are the full-pay tables that can be found on such machines.
Jacks or Better Pay Table
| Coins/Hands | 1 coin | 2 coins | 3 coins | 4 coins | 5 coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| 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 pair | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Jacks or better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Bonus Poker Pay Table
| Coins/Hands | 1 coin | 2 coins | 3 coins | 4 coins | 5 coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| 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) | 40 | 80 | 120 | 160 | 200 |
| Four of a kind (any other) | 20 | 40 | 60 | 80 | 100 |
| Full house | 7 | 14 | 21 | 28 | 35 |
| Flush | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Straight | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Two pair | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Jacks or better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Bonus Poker Deluxe Pay Table
| Coins/Hands | 1 coin | 2 coins | 3 coins | 4 coins | 5 coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Straight flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four of a kind | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| Full house | 8 | 16 | 24 | 32 | 40 |
| Flush | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 30 |
| Straight | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Two pair | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Jacks or better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Double Bonus Poker Pay Table
| Coins/Hands | 1 coin | 2 coins | 3 coins | 4 coins | 5 coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Straight flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four of a kind (aces) | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Four of a kind (2s, 3s, or 4s) | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| Four of a kind (any other) | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Full house | 9 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 45 |
| Flush | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 30 |
| Straight | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Two pair | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Jacks or better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Double Double Bonus Poker Pay Table
| Coins/Hands | 1 coin | 2 coins | 3 coins | 4 coins | 5 coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Straight flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four of a kind aces w/ any 2,3,4 | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 2000 |
| Four of a kind 2s, 3s, or 4s w/ any A,2,3,4 | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Four aces | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| Four 5s through Ks | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| 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 pair | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Jacks or better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Triple Double Bonus Pay Table
| Coins/Hands | 1 coin | 2 coins | 3 coins | 4 coins | 5 coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Straight flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four of a kind – aces 2, 3, 4 kicker | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
| Four of a kind – 2s, 3s, or 4s A, 2, 3, or 4 kicker | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 2000 |
| Four of a kind – aces 5s – Ks kicker | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Four of a kind – 2s, 3s, or 4s 5s – Ks kicker | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| Four of a kind – any other | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Full house | 9 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 45 |
| Flush | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 30 |
| Straight | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Three of a kind | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Two pair | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Jacks or better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Deuces Wild Pay Table
| Coins/Hands | 1 coin | 2 coins | 3 coins | 4 coins | 5 coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Four deuces | 200 | 400 | 600 | 800 | 1000 |
| Wild royal flush | 20 | 40 | 60 | 80 | 100 |
| Five of a kind | 12 | 24 | 36 | 48 | 60 |
| Straight flush | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 |
| Four of a kind | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Full house | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Flush | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Straight | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Three of a kind | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Deuces Wild Bonus Pay Table
| Coins/Hands | 1 coin | 2 coins | 3 coins | 4 coins | 5 coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Four deuces with an Ace | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 2000 |
| Four deuces | 200 | 400 | 600 | 800 | 1000 |
| Wild royal flush | 25 | 50 | 75 | 100 | 125 |
| Five aces | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| Five 3s, 4s or 5s | 40 | 80 | 120 | 160 | 200 |
| Five 6s through Ks | 20 | 40 | 60 | 80 | 100 |
| Straight flush | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 |
| 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 |
Strategy for Rack ‘Em Up Poker Video Poker
For most video poker games, you can learn the perfect strategy by using resources like video poker training software or strategy charts. But such methods might not be as useful to you when it comes to Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker and the special feature.
Video poker software and strategy charts do the probability math involved with video poker. This allows you to learn the right plays for each deal you might receive.
But those plays might be a bit more complicated when it comes to Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker and the special feature. Why is that? Well, it comes down to how the bonuses are awarded.
For example, look at the following deal:
Playing this deal on a normal Jacks or Better pay table, the correct play is to keep the four cards to a straight and drop one of the tens. This will return the highest expected value to the deal.
But in Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker, it might be better to hold on to the pair of tens. If you go for the straight, that leaves you just one chance to make a hand that will qualify for the bonus coins. But by holding the pair, you give yourself the chance of making three of a kind, a full house, or four of a kind, all of which are qualifying hands.
That means the normal methods of learning video poker strategy might lead you astray. The problem is that there are no real resources out there for learning perfect strategy for this unique game.
For that reason, we still suggest either software of strategy charts to learn your Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker strategy. There might be occasional deals where they can’t quite nail it in terms of the bonus coins. But it’s better to have a large percentage of the right plays handed to you, rather than you trying to guess and making many mistakes.
Let’s take a look at how these methods work.
Video Poker Training Software
Training software for video poker is best if purchased rather than downloaded for free. The reason is that better types of software allow you to customize instruction based on a specific pay table. That’s something you can’t normally do in the free versions.
To use video poker software, just choose your pay table, input the totals, then begin playing sample hands. The software will tell you when you’ve made an incorrect decision about what to hold and discard. In that way, you’ll learn all the right decisions over time.
Strategy Charts
To use video poker training software, you have to do a lot of practicing.
But with a strategy chart, you just have to do some memorizing. While it’s no easy task to memorize an entire chart with a lot of different listings, it’s still the fastest way to get to perfect play.
A strategy chart ranks all of the combinations of cards you might receive on the deal according to the pay table and based on expected value. When you see the cards in your own hand, you’ll compare them to the lists. You’ll know what to hold when you see the combination in your deal that ranks the highest.
Pros and Cons of Rack ‘Em Up Poker Video Poker
Pros of Rack ‘Em Up Poker Video Poker
- Incredible bonuses up for grabs with lucky Draws
- Fast-paced action with the 25, 50, or 100 hands at once
- Many different pay tables at your disposal
Cons of Rack ‘Em Up Poker Video Poker
- Very expensive due to the multiple hands and the extra coins needed for the special feature
- Could be a bit confusing to video poker newcomers
- Volatility is extremely high, which means that only the highest bankrolls are safe
Conclusion on Rack ‘Em Up Poker Video Poker
Rack ‘Em Up Poker video poker will leave you a bit breathless with all the hands and potential bonuses going on at once. Although strategy might be a bit tricky to learn, you can still luck out with excellent draws. All of the bonus coins at stake mean you could walk away with a much richer gambler in a span of a single round if the cards turn out just right.
Recognize Us? We've been found on:
