Stud Choice Poker Video Poker

Stud Choice Poker video poker takes major liberties with the concept of video poker. By including a Stud Poker element, the game takes away a lot of the decision-making aspects. But the player still has an impact on gameplay by choosing between a pair of two-card deals and deciding how many cards they want in their hand.

Video poker is known as being one of the most beneficial games a gambler can find in a casino or at a top gambling site. Most video poker variations are based on the same setup. You get a five-card deal and discard the cards you don’t want. The final step is drawing new cards to complete your hand.

That’s the setup for the table game known as Five-Card Draw. Most video poker games replicate that and allow you to play as just one person against the machine. But Stud Choice Poker video poker stands as one of the more dramatic variations.

In Stud Choice Poker video poker, you receive two cards on the deal. But you get to choose between a pair of these two-card deals. Your choice will be based on how well you can make winning poker hands.

Once you’ve chosen your preferred deal, decide how many cards you want to have. This will be based on the strength of those first two cards. The more cards you have, the lower your payback.

Afterward, your responsibilities in Stud Choice Poker video poker are over. The game will fill out your hand depending on how many cards you’ve chosen. Then, it will score the hand.

There’s no opportunity for you to discard anything. That’s what makes this game like Stud Poker, as opposed to Draw Poker. Still, there are strategies you can employ to play Stud Choice Poker video poker at the maximum level. You might enjoy making tough decisions about what to hold and what to discard.

In the following article, we’ll explain everything you need to know about Stud Choice Poker video poker. We’ll talk about how to play the game with the unique format that it holds. And we’ll also get into what kinds of video poker strategies you can consider and how the different pay tables for the game are set up.

Advantages of Video Poker

Even though Stud Choice Poker video poker is vastly different from most video poker games, it’s similar enough that it possesses many of the same benefits for gamblers. This is especially true when you compare video poker to other casino action like slot machines or table games.

Here are some of the excellent advantages that video poker possesses compared to other games:

• Video poker is easy to play. This is especially true with Stud Choice Poker video poker, where your responsibility is much less than in the typical draw format. You can learn to play well after just a few hands.
• Video poker is a one-person exercise. You don’t have to worry about dealing with other casino patrons or employees. It’s just you and the machine.
• Video poker allows you to use strategy. As we said above, the strategy you’ll be using for Stud Choice Poker video poker is a bit more limited because of the nature of the game. But you will have a chance to impact your results for better or worse with your decisions.
• Video poker is based on probabilities. For one thing, probabilities help you with your strategies and to determine how likely it is to form a winning hand. On top of that, these probabilities can also determine how much one video poker game pays off compared to another.
• Video poker usually pays back pretty well. We’ll talk more about payback percentage below, but suffice it to say that you can expect to come back with more of your bankroll playing video poker than if you were playing slots. And video poker often pays back on par or even better than the top table games.
• Video poker is a great game to play online. You can sign up at a top gambling website, fund the account, and play video poker games like Stud Choice Poker video poker with no hassles. And you can win real money at these sites as well.

Bankroll and Betting for Stud Choice Poker Video Poker

Once you get into gameplay, you’ll find that Stud Choice Poker video poker doesn’t have too much in common with most other video poker games. But the bankroll and betting aspects don’t change that much.

In terms of your bankroll, that’s just a fancy way of labelling the money you put in the machine. This bankroll will be expressed in units known as coins or credits. Each of these units will be equal to a single unit of denomination for the machine you’ve chosen.

As for betting, your wagers on Stud Choice Poker video poker will be similar to other multiple play machines. By multiple play, we mean you’ll be playing more than one hand at once on a Stud Choice Poker machine. We’ll explain how that affects gameplay in a moment.

You will have the choice of playing 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 hands of Stud Choice Poker video poker at once. But you must remember that you have to bet on each of these hands. Bets for each hand will be between one and five coins.

Let’s take a look at what that would cost you if you were to make the maximum wager, also known as the “Max Bet,” for each hand that you play:

3 hands = 15 coins

6 hands = 30 coins

9 hands = 45 coins

12 hands = 60 coins

15 hands = 75 coins

Keep in mind the size of your planned bets when you creating your bankroll. If you plan on playing Stud Choice Poker video poker for a long session, you should make sure you’ve put in enough money to account for the size of the bets you’ll need to make playing multiple hands.

Playing Stud Choice Poker Video Poker

Normally, when we talk about video poker variations, we usually show the basic format of the game as a foundation. That isn’t the case with Stud Choice Poker video poker. The format is so different that it warrants an explanation all its own.

The one major similarity between Stud Choice Poker video poker and basic video poker based on Five-Card Draw are the hands you’ll be hoping to achieve. You’ll just be going about achieving them in a different manner.

Here are the winning combinations that you’ll be hoping to achieve in some way when you’re playing Stud Choice Poker video poker:

• 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)

In terms of these hands, the ones at the top are the easiest to achieve based on video poker probabilities. They’re also the ones that pay the least. As you move down the list, the hands will get harder to make and will pay more.

Since you’ll be playing multiple hands at once when at a Stud Choice Poker video poker, you have to first understand the decisions that you make at the beginning of the hand will be played out over all of the hands. Once you make your bet, you’ll see two sets of two cards on the screen.

These are your “deals.” Each comes from a deck of 52 cards, just like the standard one you might have at home. You’ll be choosing which of these two cards you want to take into the Stud Poker part of the game.

This decision will be based on which cards you receive. There are a lot of unknowns involved with the cards ahead. Let’s take a look at a sample.

Imagine that you were playing three hands at a time at the max bet of five coins per hand and were using a Jacks or Better pay table. Here are the cards that you receive:

Deal 1

Deal 2

As two-card deals go, these are pretty good ones. With the king and the ace, you have the makings of a possible straight. In addition, both meet the Jacks or Better threshold, meaning you would just have to match one of them when you get the rest of your cards to have a winning hand.

But, in actuality, the nine and ten of hearts is a much better play in Stud Choice Poker video poker. Being connected by suit and rank opens up all kinds of possibilities for you. Among them are a straight, a flush, or even a straight flush.

Let’s say that you decide the nine and ten of hearts is the way you want to go. Your next choice will be to decide how many cards you want in the hand. You can choose a hand with five, six, or seven cards.

If you choose only five cards, your chances of improving your hand will be limited. With only three new cards coming into play, you’ll have limited chances of ending up with a winning combination. Choosing six or even seven-card hands are the best way to go if your starting two cards are mediocre or weak.

But if you have a strong two-card pair in Stud Choice Poker video poker, you should probably go for the five-card hand. Why? Well, as you’ll see in the pay tables, payback for winning combinations in a five-card hand are significantly higher than with six or seven-card hands.

If you went with more cards off a strong starting hand, you might give yourself more chances at a win of some sort. But you would be limiting the amount that you could win. And that can be more damaging, in the long run, than taking a shot at the five-card hand and coming up empty.

For the sake of argument, let’s say that you decide to proceed with six-card hands in this sample hand of Stud Choice Poker video poker. That will be the last decision you have to make. The machine’s software does the rest.

The first thing that happens is that the two cards you didn’t choose on the deal (the king of clubs and the ace of spades) go back into the deck, leaving 50 cards total. These 50 cards are included in three separate decks which will fill out your hands. They will be “shuffled” by the software to ensure that each of the hands gets randomly filled.

Let’s see how this might work:

Hand 1

Hand 2

Hand 3

These hands worked out quite well for you. Remember that the threshold for the winning hands like the straight and flush are still based on five cards. That means all three hands were winners.

Hand 1 gave you a straight with the seven through jack. On Hand 2, you managed five hearts for a flush. And in Hand 3, you ended up with two pair of nines and tens.

You would then consult the Jacks or Better pay table for six cards to see what the payback is. Take a look:

Hand 1: Straight with six cards = 30 coins

Hand 2: Flush with six cards = 45 coins

Hand 3: Two Pair with six cards = 10 coins

When you add all of that up, you end up with 85 coins. Minus your original bet of 15 coins (5 coins each per three hands), you came away with 70 coins in profit.

In case you were wondering, the process for playing Stud Choice Poker video poker with 6, 9, 12, or 15 hands is the same. You’d still be deciding which two-card deal to use and how many cards to play.

Those decisions would then be played out over however many hands you choose. And, again, all of the decks would include the same 50 cards.

The example above is a best-case scenario with Stud Choice Poker video poker. Obviously, there will be times where you come up empty, perhaps even in all of the hands at once.

As a result, you can expect Stud Choice Poker video poker to be a bit volatile. You’ll have opportunities for quick, significant score if you can get multiple winning hands at once. But you’ll also run the risk of running through your bankroll quickly if you get a run of losses on multiple hands.

Pay Tables for Stud Choice Poker Video Poker

When playing Stud Choice Poker video poker, you’ll have the choice of three different sets of pay tables. They’re loosely based on the following video poker variations:

• Jacks or Better
• Bonus Poker Deluxe
• Double Double Bonus Poker

We say “loosely based” because Stud Choice Poker video poker is so drastically different from common video poker. The pay tables have to be adjusted to account for the different probabilities of making winning hands. And, when you’re playing a Stud-based game, your chances will generally be lesser that you’ll come up with a winning hand.

Of course, that changes once you get up to a seven-card hand. Opening up the hand to that many cards means more chances develop a winning combination.

All of that is reflected in the pay tables. You’ll note how much higher the paybacks are for the five-card hands than for the six and seven-card hands. That’s because your chances of hitting some of the top-paying hands with just five cards are small.

You’ll also notice how some hands don’t even pay as you move from five to seven cards. For example, a pair of Jacks or Better pays off at 2 to 1 in a five-card hand. But it doesn’t pay anything or hands with six or seven cards.

All of these factors will go into your decision-making process when playing Stud Choice Poker video poker. For now, take a look at the pay tables that you’re likely to encounter:

Jacks or Better Pay Table (5 cards)

Coins/Hands	1 coin	2 coins	3 coins	4 coins	5 coins
Royal flush	4000	8000	12000	16000	20000
Straight flush	400	800	1200	1600	2000
Four of a kind	125	250	375	500	625
Full house	24	48	72	96	120
Flush	15	30	45	60	75
Straight	10	20	30	40	50
Three of a kind	7	14	21	28	35
Two pair	3	6	9	12	15
Jacks or better	2	4	6	8	10

Jacks or Better Pay Table (6 cards)

Coins/Hands	1 coin	2 coins	3 coins	4 coins	5 coins
Royal flush	1000	2000	3000	4000	5000
Straight flush	100	200	300	400	500
Four of a kind	50	100	150	200	250
Full house	12	24	36	48	60
Flush	9	18	27	36	45
Straight	6	12	18	24	30
Three of a kind	4	8	12	16	20
Two pair	2	4	6	8	10
Jacks or better	0	0	0	0	0

Jacks or Better Pay Table (7 cards)

Coins/Hands	1 coin	2 coins	3 coins	4 coins	5 coins
Royal flush	400	800	1200	1600	2000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a kind	25	50	75	100	125
Full house	8	16	24	32	40
Flush	6	12	18	24	30
Straight	6	12	18	24	30
Three of a kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pair	0	0	0	0	0
Jacks or better	0	0	0	0	0

Bonus Poker Deluxe Pay Table (5 cards)

Coins/Hands	1 coin	2 coins	3 coins	4 coins	5 coins
Royal flush	4000	8000	12000	16000	20000
Straight flush	400	800	1200	1600	2000
Four of a kind	160	320	480	640	800
Full house	21	42	63	84	105
Flush	14	28	42	56	70
Straight	10	20	30	40	50
Three of a kind	7	14	21	28	35
Two pair	3	6	9	12	15
Jacks or better	2	4	6	8	10

Bonus Poker Deluxe Pay Table (6 cards)

Coins/Hands	1 coin	2 coins	3 coins	4 coins	5 coins
Royal flush	1000	2000	3000	4000	5000
Straight flush	100	200	300	400	500
Four of a kind	80	160	240	320	400
Full house	10	20	30	40	50
Flush	8	16	24	32	40
Straight	6	12	18	24	30
Three of a kind	4	8	12	16	20
Two pair	2	4	6	8	10
Jacks or better	0	0	0	0	0

Bonus Poker Deluxe Pay Table (7 cards)

Coins/Hands	1 coin	2 coins	3 coins	4 coins	5 coins
Royal flush	400	800	1200	1600	2000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a kind	50	100	150	200	250
Full house	8	16	24	32	40
Flush	5	10	15	20	25
Straight	3	6	9	12	15
Three of a kind	2	4	6	8	10
Two pair	0	0	0	0	0
Jacks or better	0	0	0	0	0

Double Double Bonus Poker Pay Table (5 cards)

Coins/Hands	1 coin	2 coins	3 coins	4 coins	5 coins
Royal flush	4000	8000	12000	16000	20000
Straight flush	400	800	1200	1600	2000
Four aces w/ any 2,3,4	2000	4000	6000	8000	10000
Four 2s, 3s, 4s w/ any A,2,3,4	400	800	1200	1600	2000
Four aces	400	800	1200	1600	2000
Four 2s, 3s, 4s	160	320	480	640	800
Four 5s through Ks	125	250	375	500	625
Full house	20	40	60	80	100
Flush	14	28	42	56	70
Straight	10	20	30	40	50
Three of a kind	7	14	21	28	35
Two pair	3	6	9	12	15
Pair of jacks +	2	4	6	8	10

Double Double Bonus Poker Pay Table (6 cards)

Coins/Hands	1 coin	2 coins	3 coins	4 coins	5 coins
Royal flush	1000	2000	3000	4000	5000
Straight flush	100	200	300	400	500
Four aces w/ any 2,3,4	400	800	1200	1600	2000
Four 2s, 3s, 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	10	20	30	40	50
Flush	8	16	24	32	40
Straight	6	12	18	24	30
Three of a kind	4	8	12	16	20
Two pair	2	4	6	8	10
Pair of jacks +	0	0	0	0	0

Double Double Bonus Poker Pay Table (7 cards)

Coins/Hands	1 coin	2 coins	3 coins	4 coins	5 coins
Royal flush	400	800	1200	1600	2000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four aces w/ any 2,3,4	160	320	480	640	800
Four 2s, 3s, 4s w/ any A,2,3,4	80	160	240	320	400
Four aces	80	160	240	320	400
Four 2s, 3s, 4s	50	100	150	200	250
Four 5s through Ks	25	50	75	100	125
Full house	8	16	24	32	40
Flush	5	10	15	20	25
Straight	3	6	9	12	15
Three of a kind	2	4	6	8	10
Two pair	0	0	0	0	0
Pair of jacks +	0	0	0	0	0

Payback Percentages for Stud Choice Poker Video Poker

Payback percentage is really only an important concept if you plan on playing a game with regularity in an effort to make a consistent profit. For casual players who only play video poker part-time, it really isn’t that big of a deal.

If you’re just a casual player of games like Stud Choice Poker video poker, your outcome will be more based on luck than anything else. You won’t build up enough of a sample size for payback percentages, which are based on probabilities, to be accurate.

However, if you play a game like Stud Choice Poker video poker over a long period of time, perhaps over thousands and thousands of hands, the payback percentage and your actual results will be very similar. Luck will even itself out and those probabilities we mentioned will take over.

In the case of Stud Choice Poker video poker, the pay tables below sit at around the 96% mark for payback. What does that mean?

Well, imagine that you sat down to a Stud Choice Poker video poker with $1,000 in your bankroll. After you’ve played every last dime of that bankroll in the machine, you can expect, on average, about $960 to remain. Your expected loss is $40.

If you can find machines or online games like that, you can overcome the miniscule losses by earning rewards from casinos or gambling websites for a lot of play. In that way, you could conceivably hope to make a profit over a long period of time.

Yet it’s unlikely that, long-term, you’ll be able to make that profit when playing Stud Choice Poker video poker. In the short-term, you might put yourself well ahead with some big winning hands. But don’t expect that to last for too long.

For that reason, Stud Choice Poker video poker might be best enjoyed by either casual players or serious players looking for a change of pace. It certainly presents a different challenge in terms of coming up with strategy.

Strategy for Stud Choice Poker Video Poker

We’ve talked at length about how different Stud Choice Poker video poker plays from most video poker games. It stands to reason then that learning strategy is quite different as well. But it’s no less important if you want to maximize your winnings.

As we mentioned above, you have two decisions to make when playing Stud Choice Poker video poker. You have to first decide which of the two-card hands you want to play. Then, you have to decide how many cards you want to receive.

For each of those two-card deals you might receive in Stud Choice Poker video poker, there’s a single correct play in terms of those two decisions. This “right” play is based on the math. What decision will bring out the highest expected value from the initial four cards on the screen?

You might get lucky making the wrong choices now and again when playing Stud Choice Poker video poker. After all, anything can happen on a single draw. You might make a poor decision on both fronts and watch as four aces show up on the screen in the Stud round.

But that luck will only sway the results for so long. Eventually, the mathematics will determine how these hands play out. And if you want to get the maximum value from them, you have to know the correct choices to make.

Stud Choice Poker video poker doesn’t make that easy. There are over 1,000 possible two-card combinations you can receive on the deal. You have to know how each one ranks in expected value.

You then have to know how many cards you need to get the maximum value from the deal you chose. The basic rule of thumb is that the better the two-card combination, the less cards you should want.

You might be able to find a king of strategy chart for Stud Choice Poker video poker, although it will look drastically different for Stud Choice Poker that it would for a Draw version of video poker. Such a chart would need to have a section ranking all of the two-card deals.

It would then have to include another section that says how many cards you should ask for with each of those deals. That’s a lot of information.

Ideally, if you could find a Stud Choice Poker video poker strategy chart, you’d be able to memorize it. It’s doubtful that a casino would look too kindly on you bringing in a piece of paper and consulting it.

Even if you could, it would take you so much time to do this for each hand that gameplay would sputter. As a result, even strategy charts aren’t the best option.

Since Stud Choice Poker video poker is a game that is probably best enjoyed as a part-time diversion, the best bet for strategy is just to go in with some basic concepts.

• Pairs are always at the top of the list for two-card hands. After that, look for suited pairs or two cards connected in rank.
• Give priority to jacks, all things being equal. Jacks will get you paid with a pair on a five-card hand. And they also open up for many different combinations of winning hands with the cards to come.
• Think of how many cards it takes to get a straight. For instance, holding on to a two and a six is better than holding on to a two and a seven. You can get a three, four, and five to connect the two and six, but you can in no way connect the two and seven with only three cards.
• Watch Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments. Texas Hold ‘Em, which is popular on television, also features players getting two-card deals. You’ll see on the screen percentages listed showing which players have the edge based on the deal, and that’s the same way you’ll be thinking of your two-card hands in Stud Choice Poker video poker.
• It will be a rare hand that’s best played with five cards. Because of the unpredictability of the Stud format, it doesn’t make too much sense to hope for a five-card winning hand with even a decent two-card deal. You’re better off going for the extra cards and hoping to come away with some positive return.

Stud Choice Poker Video Poker Pros and Cons

Stud Choice Poker Video Poker Conclusion

Stud Choice Poker video poker represents one of the oddest twists in video poker. In fact, you could argue that it’s not really video poker at all. Still, as a change of pace with lucrative possibilities, it’s definitely worth a try.