Video Poker Live: Our Review, How and Where to Play

Video Poker Live is an online casino game that blends the live casino experience with video poker. It’s the first-ever attempt to make such a game and boasts a massive RTP rate of 99.54% with a minimum bet of $0.5 and a $5,000 maximum bet. It’s available on both desktop and mobile as one of Evolution’s flagship releases in 2023.

Live Video Poker is one of several innovative ideas announced by Evolution in 2023. It’s an entirely unique project that can’t currently be experienced anywhere else. In this review, we’ll take a look at how Video Poker live works, whether it’s worth playing, and where you can find it right now.

United States

Excitement
Design & Sound
Streaming Quality
Interactivity
Win Potential
Rated :
4.4/5

Play Video Poker Live Here

20Bet

4.8/5

Mr Play Casino

4/5

888 Casino

4.9/5

Video Poker Live Review

Game Specifications
Game name	Video Poker Live
Game provider	Evolution
Game type	Specialty Games
Streaming from	Latvia
RTP	99.54%
Bet range	€0.5 - €5,000
Max win	800:1
Side bets	No
Supported platforms
Supported OS
Languages	Albanian Chinese Czech Danish Dutch English +19 All supported languages Albanian Chinese Czech Danish Dutch English Finnish French German Greek Hebrew Hindi Italian Korean Latvian Lithuanian Norwegian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Spanish Swedish Thai Turkish

Although live games with real dealers are slowly becoming the most popular way to play classic casino games online, games powered by RNG still have a place in the market. Slots are the first that probably pop into your mind, but Video Poker has also been a staple of casinos for decades. With one of its 2023 releases, Evolution is attempting to bring Video Poker to live audiences worldwide. The idea is simple – to combine the authentic experience and community of live gambling with the simplicity and excitement of Video Poker.

In that regard, the new Video Poker Live is somewhat similar to the idea of live slots. Although this new format of gaming initially struggled to find footing in the crowded live dealer space, Evo is finally making headway with major releases like Extra Chilli Epic Spins.

Video poker is the next to receive a similar treatment. However, we should point out a few things, even if they seem obvious to some. First of all, this isn’t really poker in the classic sense. It’s not casino poker and it doesn’t really use cards. Instead, think of it as a typical video poker machine, only the results are shared by a worldwide audience. If that sounds interesting to you, keep on reading this review.

Simulated poker machine in which one hand is dealt using actual cards

Combines the excitement of video poker with the authenticity and community of live dealer gaming

Choose between 5 rulesets, which will dictate the volatility and returns of the game's payouts

Up to 100 virtual hands per turn with a color-coded interface that allows you to keep track of it all

Purpose-built live studio with professional dealers there to bring the game to life

Up to 99.54% RTP, depending on the paytable you choose

How to Play Video Poker Live

Video Poker is not a complicated game, and it’s easy to get into the groove of things. We’ll walk you through the basic steps to explain how it all fits together.

Evolution’s Live Video Poker simulates a virtual poker machine. That means a computer determines all results, and there are no actual cards. The only exceptions are the 5 cards the dealer draws – we’ll explain that in a minute. The simulation includes a single standard deck of 52 cards, without Jokers.

The goal is to arrange the strongest possible 5-card poker hand. If your hand is strong enough, you’ll receive a payout based on the paytable you chose to use. You can choose between 5 options when it comes to determining payouts – check the Payouts section of this review for more info.

Video Poker Live Guide

Initial Deal

Every round starts with a 15-second betting period. To play in the current round, you have to choose the number of hands you wish to bet on, the size of the bet per hand, and the paytable you wish to use.

You can bet on up to 100 hands per round. Each one is treated as a separate game, so to speak. That means that every hand will draw from its own simulated deck.

Choose between 5 paytables to determine the potential rewards. Your options include:

Jacks or Better
Tens or Better
Deuces Wild
Bonus Poker
Double Double Bonus

Our recommendation is to always play Jacks or Better because it offers the highest average RTP.

Dealing & Swapping

Once you’ve placed your bets, the dealer will deal 5 real cards on the table in front of them. These cards are only used for a single hand (out of a possible 100.) If you’re only wagering on one hand, these are the cards you will use. Otherwise, these cards are only relevant for one of your hands. The rest are completely virtual.

You now have the option to swap cards. If you don’t want to swap cards, click on them. Each card you choose not to swap will have a big HOLD sign below it. The rest are replaced from a virtual deck that contains all of the cards that hand did not draw initially.

If you do not select which cards you want (or don’t want) to hold in a particular hand, the game will do so automatically. It will even follow the optimal strategy, so beginners may just want to leave them untouched.

Second Dealing & Results

As described above, any cards you chose not to hold are immediately replaced. These new cards are then used to calculate results.

If you have a winning combination, you will receive a payout based on the paytable you choose. Generally, you will need a Pair of Jacks or better to receive a prize, but that’s not the case with all possible paytables.

The size of your payout is determined by the strength of your card, as per the usual poker rules. If you need help understanding poker hands and how they work, check out this article.

Strategy Tips

1
Always play using the Jacks or Better paytable. The Bonus Poker option is somewhat acceptable if you want something more volatile, but we still recommend sticking to the one with the highest RTP.
2
There is an optimal way to play Video Poker, which will depend on your chosen paytable. The quickest tip we can give is to hold any poker hands you get on the first draw. If none are available, hold one card that's a Jack or higher.
3
We don't recommend playing too many hands at once. Things get too difficult to keep track of if you're using more than, say, ten.

Payouts & RTP

As we already mentioned, Video Poker Live allows you to choose between different payables. You have five options, and each has its own characteristics. Some are more volatile, others simply rebalance the payout structure to be more rewarding for some hands than others.

However, these paytables are not equal. Some are better than others, and differences can be quite striking. That’s why we recommend that you always play the Jacks or Better paytable. It’s relatively non-volatile and has the best RTP by far.

Check out the table below to compare all paytables in Video Poker Live.

Video Poker Live Paytables
Hand	Jacks or Better	Tens or Better	Deuces Wild	Bonus Poker	Double Double Bonus
Royal Flush	800	800	800	800	800
Straight Flush	50	50	200	50	50
Four of a Kind	25	20	4	25-80	50-400
Full House	9	6	4	8	9
Flush	6	5	3	5	6
Straight	4	4	2	4	4
Three of a Kind	3	3	1	3	3
Two Pair	2	2		2	1
Jacks or Better	1	1		1	1
Tens or Better	N/A	1

If you don’t know which paytable to use, simply check out the RTP value for each.

Jacks or Better RTP: 99.54%
Tens or Better RTP: 97.96%
Deuces Wild RTP: 98.91%
Bonus Poker RTP: 99.17%
Double Double Bonus RTP: 98.98%

This makes Jacks or Better not only the best variant of Video Poker Live, but also a very strong live casino game overall. It has a higher RTP than most live blackjack tables, which is really impressive.

New to Live Video Poker?

Remember that LiveCasinos.com isn’t here just for live casino game reviews. We also handle guides and strategies, helping you get the best start possible. Video Poker is completely based on luck and random chance, however, so your strategies are limited. Make sure to mind your money management and never spend more than you can afford to lose.

Make sure to choose the game that suits your taste and budget. For more extensive guides on live casino games, check out this page.

Special Features

It’s important to note that no two players have the same experience of Video Poker live. Everyone sees a different outcome on their screens depending on the choices they make. For example, if you choose to hold 2 cards but another player holds 4, you will draw 3 cards while they only draw two. This even applies to the initial hand that’s made using real cards on a real table. Any swapped cards are drawn as virtual cards alone. The dealer’s role is mostly to engage the audience, often through the live chat feature available in-game.

Beyond that, there aren’t may other features to report on. The UI is certainly interesting – especially if you choose to play tens or dozens of hands in a single round. Most of the gameplay in that case is automated, and the results are collected and color-coded so its easy to keep up with so many hands.

Languages

The single stream of Video Poker Live is fully presented in English.
However, the text in the interface can be changed to other languages, including English, Albanian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish.

Our Verdict

There are several reasons to be excited about this innovative Evolution-made game.

First of all, it’s a unique concept with a creative execution. Currently, Video Poker Live is the only live dealer of its title available anywhere. We always appreciate innovation in our games – especially when things turn out well. A game like this will appeal to anyone who is a fan of poker machines, and many of those who are looking for a new way to play poker online.

Secondly, the game itself allows you a lot of freedom in how you want to play it. The 5 different payables mean that this is essentially five poker machines packed into one well-made package.

Last but not least, the game is technically sound with player-friendly rules. All we need to do to make sure of Live Video Poker’s potential is the massive 99.54% RTP rate.

We will see if a title like this will be able to find its audience. As far as we’re concerned, it’s a promising idea and a strong overall offer from Evolution.

Excellent

Play Video Poker Live Here

20Bet

4.8/5

Mr Play Casino

4/5

888 Casino

4.9/5

FAQ

Is there a trick to video poker?

Yes and no. There are optimal moves to make in every circumstance. Once you learn those, however, there's not really much you can do to improve your results.

What is Video Poker Live?

Video Poker Live is a live online casino game made and released by the software company Evolution. It plays using an online stream of a game inspired by Poker machines.

Is Video Poker Live easy to play?

Yes, relatively speaking. Some casino games are easier. However, once you figure out the basic pattern of which cards to hold and which to switch, the game is quite simple.

What is the RTP of Video Poker Live?

The game allows you to choose between five paytables, which will determine the average RTP for the rounds. The RTP rates are as follows: Jacks or Better RTP is 99.54%; Tens or Better RTP is 97.96%; Deuces Wild RTP is 98.91%; Bonus Poker RTP is 99.17%; Double Double Bonus RTP is 98.98%.