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STICKMAN’S STANCE:
STRATEGIES FOR PICK ‘EM/PICK A PAIR VIDEO POKER
by Jerry "Stickman"
Jerry "Stickman" is an expert in craps, blackjack, video poker and advantage slot machine play. Frank Scoblete’s and Jerry "Stickman’s" book "Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo and Pai Gow Poker" presents dozens of video poker games and strategies for maximum returns. He is a regular contributor to top gaming magazines. You can contact Jerry "Stickman" at
stickmanjerry@aol.com.Last month, we reviewed Joker’s Wild Two Pair or Better video poker. This month we switch to another type of video poker game – Pick ‘Em Poker, sometimes called Pick A Pair Poker.
The original game was called Pick-em Poker. It enjoyed a reasonable run for several years and then slowly faded. Today there are only a few places where you can find Pick-em Poker. However, in recent years a game called Pick A Pair Poker has started appearing on the scene. It may be called by a different name, but it is the same game. From here on I will use the name Pick-em Poker to refer to both Pick-em Poker and Pick A Pair Poker.
Pick-em Poker is played totally differently from other video poker games. Rather than dealing five cards and then allowing the player to hold or discard each card, Pick-em Poker deals two cards plus two piles of three cards each where you can see only the top card. You must pick one of the two piles of three cards to complete the five card hand. So, you can see four cards and you must discard one out of two of those cards – three of the dealt cards must remain in your hand. This can be particular annoying when your visible cards make a great hand such a four of a kind and you must break it up.
On the plus side, Pick-em Poker has a decent pay table, a good return, and low variance. Here is the complete pay table information for the full-pay version of Pick-em Poker / Pick A Pair Poker.
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Pick-em Poker / Pick A Pair Poker – Full-Pay – Payback: 99.95 Percent, Variance: 15.0 |
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Hand |
1 Coin |
2 Coins |
3 Coins |
4 Coins |
5 Coins |
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ROYAL FLUSH |
1000 |
2000 |
3000 |
4000 |
6000 |
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STRAIGHT FLUSH |
200 |
400 |
600 |
800 |
1199 |
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4 OF A KIND |
100 |
200 |
300 |
400 |
600 |
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FULL HOUSE |
18 |
36 |
54 |
72 |
90 |
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FLUSH |
15 |
30 |
45 |
60 |
75 |
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STRAIGHT |
11 |
22 |
33 |
44 |
55 |
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3 OF A KIND |
5 |
10 |
15 |
20 |
25 |
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2 PAIR |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
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9s OR BETTER |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
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Hand |
Pay 5 Coins |
Occurs Every |
% Return |
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ROYAL FLUSH |
6000 |
351,817.7 |
0.34 |
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STRAIGHT FLUSH |
1199 |
38,451.0 |
0.62 |
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4 OF A KIND |
600 |
2,360.8 |
5.08 |
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FULL HOUSE |
90 |
424.4 |
4.24 |
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FLUSH |
75 |
313.6 |
4.78 |
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STRAIGHT |
55 |
197.4 |
5.57 |
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3 OF A KIND |
25 |
33.3 |
15.01 |
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2 PAIR. |
15 |
16.1 |
18.63 |
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9s OR BETTER |
10 |
4.4 |
45.68 |
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NO WIN |
0 |
1.5 |
0 |
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The royal flush is paid 50 percent higher than standard pays, but it is also approximately 10 times less likely to happen. Another interesting feature of this pay table is the even money pay for 9’s or better rather than the normal jacks or better.
The strategy for Pick-em Poker is different from others because you must always save exactly three cards of the four that you can see. For that reason there are no four- or five-card hands listed in the strategy.
The variance is among the very lowest available in any video poker game meaning you don’t need as large a bankroll to play for a certain period of time. Not only that but the strategy is not too complex, making this game a good one for the more casual player.
The simplified strategy for the full-pay version of Pick-em Poker / Pick A Pair poker is shown below...
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