Drawing Hands in Video Poker

When you play video poker there will be some hands where you don’t have anything but are looking to draw to a paying hand. Let’s look at the main drawing hands in video poker.

The first type of drawing hand in video poker you want to have is the Royal Flush draw. Anytime you get two cards or more to a royal then you hold those cards. It doesn’t matter what combination of ace, king, queen, jack or ten you have or whether it is two, three or four of those cards, you hold them and take your shot at getting a royal.

The straight flush draw is similar to the royal flush draw but you don’t always hold two or three cards when they come together but you always hold four. For example, if you had 6, 7, 8 and 9 of clubs you would hold those four and go for the straight flush. You might not hold them if it was just 6, 7, 8, depending upon your other two cards and the payout for a straight flush.

The more common draw is the four flush where you have four cards of the same suit of any number and are holding them hoping to hit the flush. Another common draw is the open-ended straight draw where you are looking to hit the straight. You might have 3, 4, 5, and 6 and need either a 2 or a 7 to hit the straight. The gutshot straight draw (one specific card needed) is usually not worth going for unless you have no other options.

Those are the main drawing hands in video poker and the ones you are looking for in hopes of hitting a nice hand.