Our List of Top Free Video Poker Online Casinos NZ in 2024
- 1 Sign-Up Offer 100% Bonus Up to $1500
- 2 Sign-Up Offer 100% Bonus Up to $100
- 3 Sign-Up Offer 100% Bonus Up to $1500
- 4 Sign-Up Offer 100% Bonus Up to $500
- 5 Sign-Up Offer 100% Bonus Up to $480
- 6 Sign-Up Offer 100% Bonus Up to $1500
- 7 Sign-Up Offer 100% Bonus Up to $1200
- 8 Sign-Up Offer 100% Bonus Up to $750
- 9 Sign-Up Offer 100% Bonus Up to $150
- 10 Sign-Up Offer 100% Bonus Up to $1600
How we Review & Rate New Top Online Video Poker Casinos
When reviewing online video poker casinos, we're always looking at a particularly strict set of criteria to ensure you only play at the safest and most reputable gaming sites in the industry. For our NZ Casinos ratings, some of these criteria can be weighted more than others. However, they're all important, and we don't recommend sites that aren't doing particularly well with every single one of these factors. Nonetheless, some differences do exist between the very top options, and those can make one site more appealing than another for particular players. Here we'll take a look at which factors we look at and why we use them.
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Available Bonuses & Rewards
High payout rates are the norm in online video poker, and if you mix that with value-packed promotions and rewards, you get even better chances to come out ahead. However, not all sites have good bonus options for this particular genre of games. As such, we are very critical of the promotions available, whether they can be used with these titles and what the terms and conditions are like if they can be. This makes it easier for players in New Zealand to figure out which establishments will be likely to give them the best overall value.
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Selection of Free Games & Video Poker Software Providers
We believe it's extremely important for New Zealand players to have a wide selection of casino games at their disposal, especially when it comes to video poker titles. That's why we need to see a solid variety of free online video poker games to rate a casino highly for this genre. Apart from this, we also ensure there's an assortment of software providers to give you a multitude of options on desktop and mobile devices. This is the easiest and most effective way for an operator to give players a wide selection of titles in any genre, particularly this one.
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Convenient Payment Methods
Making deposits and withdrawals should be quick, simple and convenient. That's why we ensure each of our recommendations come equipped with safe and reliable payment options that are renowned for their speed and services. For Kiwis, the Poli and Neosurf methods are particularly popular, and many players use them already, so we like to see both of those in addition to credit cards, bank transfers and electronic wallets. In an ideal situation, we want it to be as easy as possible for players to have at least two different deposit and withdrawal methods that are readily accessible for them as individuals.
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Legit Gambling License and a Legal Online Casino Site
Just because an online casino says they are licensed doesn't mean its true. If they are licensed, it doesn't mean that license is in good standing or with a legitimate regulatory body. These are all the things that we check for, and it's usually the first set of items we look for when first researching for our ratings and reviews. Without a strong license in good standing from a reputable jurisdiction, then we won't even bother recommending a site. That's how important this is. New Zealand players who are searching for reputable establishments that are licesned and regulated by world-class regulatory bodies will want to take a look at our Casino Rewards guide.
Other Rating Criteria
These are not the only things that we check out when evaluating the best NZ online casinos that offer video poker. While they are among the most important, we also look for a number of other qualifying criteria. In what follows, we'll give you a quick idea of the other things we like to see and why they are important parts of our overall rating system.
- Mobile Availability - A strong mobile platform for iOS and Android that runs well and is optimized for modern devices is crucial.
- Safety and Security - We need to see that data security is handled correctly with high-end encryption and other best practices.
- Operator Reputation - The overall reputation that follows the company actually running things is noteworthy because it covers other brands they have operated as well.
- Currency Support - Having real money online video poker titles available in New Zealand dollars is the main thing we look for here.
- Customer Service - If players need assistance with anything, we want to see them given support 24/7 with multiple ways to contact the customer service team.
Why are Online Casino Video Poker Games so Popular?
Poker in general is popular because it offers a great mix of skill and chance. However, in the online video poker format, you get to shoot for serious winnings while playing by yourself, which means no hassle of needing to get other players together to play. In particular, you could jump in, even on a mobile device, play just a few hands, and jump out at your convenience. This would be virtually impossible if playing in the traditional way with other players. What's more is that it's got its own strategies that are specific to the particular variations you're playing, so quite a bit of variety is built into the genre.
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Rules and Gameplay
Despite there being dozens of different styles, the basic gameplay is almost always the same for all online video poker games. You start by placing your wager, and five cards are dealt to you. From there, you're able to choose to discard from zero to all five of those cards. After the discard, you're given enough cards from the deck to get you back to having five total. Those five cards are then evaluated for the best-paying poker hand as shown on the pay table. If you hit a winning hand on the pay table, it's awarded to you, and it starts all over again.
The pay tables vary between titles, and the availability of wild cards does as well. However, those are the only common differences between the variations.
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RTP and House Edge Explained
The term RTP means "return to player," which is normally represented as a percentage. Overall, it means the percent of your wagers that is returned to you in the form of wins, on average over the long run. A related term is house advantage (or house edge), which is the amount the house gets on average along similar lines. Note that RTP added to the house edge always adds up to 100 percent. In online video poker games, both of these are affected by how well you play. The better your skill, the lower your average house edge and the higher your RTP percentage.
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Video Poker Odds
One element of playing in this genre is knowing the odds of different things happening with the cards you're dealt and the chances of being dealt particular hands. Here we'll look over some of the most commonly sought after odds that will help to give you an idea of how the video style cards are dealt to create different hand types.
- Royal Flush (Dealt Straight Away) - 649,739 to 1
- Straight Flush (Dealt Straight Away) - 72,192 to 1
- Any Four of a Kind of Any Cards (Dealt Straight Away) - 4,164 to 1
- Four of a Kind, Aces (Dealt Straight Away) - Around 54,000 to 1
- Four of a Kind, Deuces (Dealt Straight Away) - Around 54,000 to 1
- Four of a Kind, Twos to Fours (Dealt Straight Away) - Around 18,000 to 1
- Full House (Dealt Straight Away) - 693 to 1
- Flush (Dealt Straight Away) - 508 to 1
- Straight (Dealt Straight Away) - 254 to 1
- Royal Flush (After Making a Draw) - Around 40,000 to 1
Real Money Casino Games vs Free Video Poker Online
Free online video poker casino games are incredibly popular, but a lot of people prefer to play for real money instead. Naturally, there are similarities and differences between playing in these two ways. These differences ultimately boils down to things that favor one approach over the other. When deciding which of the two you want to go with, you'll want to know about the following advantages and disadvantages so that you have a clear idea of what to expect from both options.
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Pros for Real Money
- You're able to play any game you want at whichever stakes you're comfortable with.
- The excitement of trying to earn real money winnings is added to the mix to a greater degree than what you see with no deposit offers.
- This allows you to qualify for the top prize in a few progressive jackpot style titles.
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Cons for Real Money
- When playing with a no deposit bonus, you get a better risk to reward ratio since there is no risk involved at all.
- Not all players take the competitive nature of video poker as seriously as others, which is often a critical part of the culture surrounding the genre.
The Most Popular Online Video Poker Games
There's no disputing that dozens of different titles are available in this genre at online video poker casinos. With that said, some of these titles are generally seen as more popular than others, just like what you see with online roulette, progressive jackpots, specialty games, blackjack online, and other genres in the industry. In the following, we want to point out what the source of the popularity happens to be for each of the top games available in this space. By knowing what's available and what's the most popular, you can more easily pick out titles that are more likely to give you a good experience.
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Jacks or Better
You'll typically see Jacks or Better referred to as the most basic and straightforward option since it has the most balanced pay table and a lack of wild cards. If you want to learn a solid strategic foundation for the genre, then this is the title to do it with. However, the 800x top win for a royal flush is sizable for sure, so don't mistake all of this for thinking that it's boring by any means. With that said, it does have one of the lowest volatility levels available.
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Double Bonus
A set of Jacks or Better variations called "Bonus" games make up a small chunk of the overall selection of titles in this space. The most popular of those is Double Bonus, which centers around giving players large payouts for certain four of a kind prizes. Overall, the end result is that the best strategies don't actually change that much from other non-wild card options. However, the volatility is a bit higher because of how many more ways there are available to make payouts on the bigger end of the scale.
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Deuces Wild
With all of the "twos" in the deck held wild, Deuces Wild offers an environment where between 7 and 8 percent of all of the cards in the deck are wilds. As a result, you get better hands on average, which creates a situation where the pay table is adjusted so that you need at least three of a kind for a prize. This is the most popular type of online video poker with wilds included, and extra types of hands like five of a kind are added to the mix that wouldn't be available on the non-wild side of things.
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Joker Poker
Joker Poker is more of a mini genre than one particular title. The idea here is that you have a 53-card deck that's made up of the original 52-card deck with an additional wild joker. However, you can have the minimum hand to qualify as a payout being a pair of kings, a pair of aces or two pair. Each option has its own slightly different pay table, but the overall strategies involved across this mini genre are mostly the same.
Popular Free Bonuses to Claim
The house edge is so small in most video poker titles that bonuses can go a long way toward closing that gap more than what you see in other genres. With that said, you also run into a more limited set of options when it comes to taking advantage of these types of promotions. To help you navigate this, we want to look over the most popular types of deals that you can find and what they can offer you in this genre in particular.
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No Deposit Bonus
For players who want to enjoy free New Zealand online video poker casino games but who also want a chance to get real money payouts, top no deposit bonuses is usually your best option. With that said, many of these types of deals either do not allow this genre at all or put serious limitations in place due to high wagering requirements. Nonetheless, in situations where you can qualify for these offers, they can be a great way to add more value to your experience without having to wager anything.
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Free Bet Bonus
Another potential way to play free online video poker hands is by using more straightforward free bet bonus opportunities. The idea here is that you're given specific titles where you get free bets, and then your winnings from those can be used to play within a certain set of options. In some cases, video poker is a part of what's available either for the free bets themselves or what you can play afterward. While these are not particularly common, they are sometimes available.
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Free Chip Bonus
Many free online video poker casinos will simply give you a free chip that you can use to play whatever you want within particular restrictions. The given rules for what you can do with this chip can vary, but the end result is that you can sometimes use them to play video style poker titles. With that said, they're usually only available either to brand new players to a particular site or as a reward for people who have played with one casino for a prolonged period of time.
Systems and Strategies - Free Tips on How to Win Online Casino Video Poker Games
With the amount of strategy involved when playing video poker online, there are a lot of tips to learn that apply to common situations or simply choosing the best games to play. Since making better decisions leads to a better average payout rate, there's a bit more on the line when it comes to using these strategies correctly. To help players stay on the right path with this more often, we have an overview of the most important tips to know when playing in this genre.
- A single variation can have multiple pay tables, and among those different tables you can have different base payout rates for correct play. This means having good pay table selection is critical.
- In many titles, playing with five coins instead of just one has a better RTP percentage. This is usually due to a royal flush paying out more in proportion to the amount being wagered.
- Most of the time in most titles, four cards to a flush is better than a high, paying pair. Likewise, a single non-paying pair is typically stronger than a four-card straight draw.
- With that said, three cards to a royal flush averages paying out more than four to a flush in non-wild variations.
- If you have a straight or flush, you should break it up if you have four cards to a straight flush or royal flush.
Online Video Poker Games vs Live Dealer Poker - Know the Differences
Sometimes players will get mixed up between video poker games online and live dealer styles of poker. This is easy to do because of the names, but there are actually major differences. In the latter, you're talking about a wide range of different types of individual titles like Caribbean Stud, Ultimate Texas Hold'em and others that do not use the same format. However, in the former, the style of play is always the same with five cards dealt and a drawing round with your final hand compared to a pay table. The way wins work at these live dealer tables is a lot different with a huge variety of different ways payouts are calculated and determined.
Pros & Cons of Download vs No Download Games
The New Zealand online video poker scene is largely dominated by players who use instant play or "no download" software platforms to get in on the action. As the name implies, no download is required since you can play directly in your web browser. The alternative does require a download to your computer, which is then installed like any other program. Each of these have their own advantages and disadvantages, and the right one for you will depend on which of these are the most important to you as an individual.
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Pros for No Download Instant Play Platforms
- You don't have to wait for a download to finish and to install to your computer.
- The instant play platforms are more compatible with non-Windows PCs that use operating systems like Linux or MacOS.
- Players get a tremendous game selection that they can jump right into even if they switch computers often.
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Cons for No Download Instant Play Platforms
- The downloadable software sometimes has slightly better graphics and sound which are otherwise compressed in the instant play platforms.
- Some video poker casinos online have a marginally larger game selection in their download-only software compared to the instant play option.
Best Casino Software Providers
The overall selection of titles that you have to pick from ultimately comes down to which software providers are represented at the casino you choose to play with. As a result, knowing the top providers in this genre can help you to be more familiar with what you can expect based simply on which software developers have titles at your site of choice. In the following, we'll look at the most popular of these providers.
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Microgaming
Around two dozen different styles are available through Microgaming. You have best online video poker winning chances in All Aces with its 99.92 percent maximum RTP rate. However, their SupaJax progressive version of Jacks or Better can give you the largest individual wins in a single prize. Bet sizing goes down as low as NZ$0.05 or NZ$0.25 per hand depending on the particular title chosen, and their presentation is solid as well. You'll also find hundreds of other games from this software provider, including some of the best pokies in the industry.
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NetEnt
What sets the game selection apart for video poker with Net Entertainment is that they focus on giving you plenty of multi-hand options. That means you can play for up to 100 hands at a time. However, that only happens across four or five different variations. Of those, Jacks or Better is the best with a 99.56% RTP percentage. With that said, they may have the best-looking titles in this genre available anywhere. You'll also be impressed by the wide selection of online keno titles as well as online bingo games while playing at gaming establishments powered by this software developer.
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Playtech
Counting the multi-hand machines, around 15 different styles are offered from Playtech. The minimum bet sizes range from $0.05 to $0.25 per hand based on which site and specific title you're playing with since operators have options to change some of the minimum payments. That aside, they offer the 2 Ways Royals version, not really found anywhere else online, with an incredible 99.8% return rate with proper play. A pair of progressive versions are also available with both based on Jacks or Better with different requirements for hitting a royal to trigger the top jackpot.
On The Go - Online Video Poker Casino Games on your Mobile
Mobile video poker titles are a great option because they fit perfectly on even smaller screens. All of our top rated sites that we recommend have mobile apps on Android and iOS, and you can play on a tablet or a smartphone without any compromise on most titles. The only catch with that is that some of the larger multi-hand versions (eg: 100-hand Jacks or Better) will bunch the results up a bit and offer you a summary of your overall winnings. However, you can always zoom in to see each individual deal after the discards.
New Real Money Online Video Poker Casinos
Something interesting about the New Zealand online casino scene is that we typically see some new sites open up each year at a regular pace. To help players stay on top of what's available, we always research and review the newest, freshest options. This is an important part of making sure that players stay updated on what's available because we want to ensure you have all of the information possible to choose where to play that's the best for you. For newcomers, we highly recommend taking a look at the best NZ minimum deposit casinos as these establishments will allow you to play vidoe poker from as little as $1, $5, or $10 deposits. This is ideal for budget players who don't want to break the bank to get access to all the features and services of gaming establihsments in 2024.
Play These Other Recommended Free Games
Free online video poker isn't the only way to get in on the action on a budget. You can also take advantage of incredibly popular free play pokies on top of table games like blackjack and roulette. Additionally, plenty of bingo options are available for free as well. This is a great way to have an awesome time at some of your favorite titles and to really check things out and enjoy yourself before deciding to play for real money.
FAQs
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Are there live dealer video poker games?
No, live dealer titles for this game are typically not available. -
Do all online casinos offer video poker?
Most sites do offer these titles, but all of our recommended options have the best selection from the highest rated providers. -
What are the odds of winning an online video poker game?
The chances of winning on any particular hand or session is determined primarily by the RTP percentage along with your skill in the title in question. -
Are video poker machines rigged?
No, we only recommend regulated sites from reputable jurisdictions that audit these online machines for fairness. -
Can I use Bitcoin to bet on video poker?
Yes, Bitcoin and other crypto options like Ethereum can be used. -
Which video poker game has the best odds?
All Aces is typically the title with the best RTP with correct play of 99.92 percent.
