Tap into the video poker section at Springbok Casino, and what do you have? Fifteen variants right in front of you, each with its own paytable and its own demands on how you play! Most mense make a beeline for the one with the biggest jackpot and just hope for the best. Which one, though, is the smartest place to start while you are still learning the ropes?
The answer, people, is Pick ’Em Poker. Without a doubt! Of every video poker game on the floor at Springbok Casino, this is the one that boils the whole thing down to a single choice per hand, with none of the five-card juggling the other variants put you through. The best video poker tips for a newcomer all point to the same spot, and you are looking right at it.
Here is the catch, though, and it is a big one. Pick ’Em Poker is deceptively simple to play, yet it remains a high volatility game… That’s the polite way of saying you’ll experience long stretches skraal pickings before one big hand pulls your balance back. Simple to learn and easy on the bankroll are two very different things, Bokke, and these video poker tips are going to show you why!
What Makes Pick ’Em Poker the Simplest Game in the Lobby
How does it actually work? It’s sommer maklik, Bokke. You get two cards face up, then two separate sets of three cards, with only the top card of each set showing. Your job is to pick which of the two sets to keep, and that set joins your two cards to make the final five-card hand. The other set is binned, and that is the whole hand done and dusted.
Compare that to a standard video poker hand, where you decide whether to hold or toss each of your five cards and weigh up dozens of combinations every time... That’s a lot to keep straight when you are still finding your feet! Pick ’Em Poker throws all of that out the window, and for anyone still learning the game, a single choice per hand is the easiest way into real-money play there is.
The hand rankings are the same ones you already know, running from a humble pair of 9s at the bottom right up to the Royal Flush at the top. A pair of 9s or anything better puts something back in your Springbok Casino balance, so even the small hands keep you in the mix. That low bar for a paying hand is a big reason Pick ’Em Poker feels so easy, and it is where any good set of video poker tips begins.
Where Pick ’Em Poker Gets Its High Volatility
Why does such a simple game come with such big swings? It is all in the paytable, people. Springbok Casino runs Pick ’Em Poker over six decks – not the single deck most people picture – and it carries a high volatility rating for that reason. The small hands pay little and pay often, while the combos that pay out the big bucks are the rare hands at the top.
A pair of 9s only pays even money, and two pair or three of a kind show up often enough to keep your balance from plummeting into the red. Here is the crux of it, though... Those small returns rarely cover the extended dry runs in between. At five coins, a Four of a Kind pays 600 coins and a Royal Flush pays a hefty 6,000 – but hands like those are as rare as hen’s teeth!
If you’re still unsure about the impact of volatility, think of it this way. You sloop through a long run of small wins and near-misses, watching your balance slide lower and lower… then BANG, one big hand and you pull the whole lot back at once! That stop-start pattern has a proper name, variance, and a bigger bankroll handles it far better than a thin one ever will.
How Pick ’Em Poker Compares to Other Springbok Video Poker Games
Do you want to see exactly how Pick ’Em Poker stacks up? Line it up against three other favourites at Springbok Casino and the trade-off is crystal clear. The table below sorts them by the one decision each game requires of you, and by the lowest hand each one actually pays. Keep your eye on that last column of our video poker compassion table, Bokke – it hints at how often it pays!
|
Variant |
What you decide |
Lowest paying hand |
|
Pick ’Em Poker |
Keep one of two card sets |
Pair of 9s |
|
Jacks or Better |
Hold any of your five cards |
Pair of jacks |
|
Deuces Wild |
Hold any five (twos are wild) |
Three of a kind |
|
Double Double Bonus Poker |
Hold any five, chase quads |
Pair of jacks |
Pick ’Em Poker and Jacks or Better both pay on low hands, so the wins are consistent. That said, Jacks or Better has you juggling five separate holds. Deuces Wild is a different beast altogether, paying nothing until you hit three of a kind, so the gaps between wins get a lot wider. Double Double Bonus Poker loads its biggest payouts onto the four-of-a-kind hands, which makes it high volatility by design.
What does all of that mean for you? It comes down to one of the most useful video poker tips we have to offer, which is to match the game to your balance… and your stomach for swings! A smaller bankroll lasts far longer on Pick ’Em Poker or Jacks or Better, where the paying hands keep coming. The wilder paytables suit a bigger bankroll that can withstand the swing!
Video Poker Tips for Playing Pick ’Em Poker Like a Boss Bok
Right, let us get practical! A handful of solid video poker tips turn Pick ’Em Poker from a guessing game into one you play with real purpose. None of them will hand you a guaranteed win, though, because no strategy beats a paytable over the long run. What our tips will do is cut out the silly, avoidable mistakes that drain your coins when it is entirely down to you.
- Always play the full five coins, every single time. A Royal Flush pays 1,000 coins for a single coin but a full 6,000 for five, and that top-hand bonus only unlocks at max bet.
- Go with the set showing the stronger top card. When the two sets look close, the higher card gives you the better shot at a paying hand.
- Treat the Double or Nothing round as optional. A right guess doubles your win, but it doubles your volatility too, so give it a skip when your balance is tight.
- Sort out your coin value before your coin count. Five coins at R0.05 is a R0.25 bet, while five at R5 is R25, so pick a denomination your bankroll can handle.
- Size your bankroll for the swings. A high volatility game needs more rand behind it, so bring a balance you can watch dip without losing sleep over it.
Every one of these video poker tips comes back to one truth… You control your bet and your discipline, while the cards are out of your hands entirely. Pick ’Em Poker gives you one decision and a fixed paytable, and the rest is pure probability playing out over thousands of hands. Get your bet right, and the swings turn into something you ride out with a steady hand.
Rehearse the Swings in Practice Mode First
Here is the clever part, and it costs you nothing. You can feel those swings long before your own rand is on the line, because Springbok Casino lets you rehearse in practice mode. We give you a one-off R1,000 in fun money to play with, which is the best way to get a feel for Pick ’Em Poker’s single decision and its run of small, regular wins without risking a cent of your own.
One thing worth remembering, mense. Practice mode is a one-off allocation of fun money, not an endless reset. Spend it wisely! Play through a couple of hundred hands, watch how a pair of 9s keeps you afloat while you chase the bigger combinations, and that high volatility warning will click into place. These video poker tips mean a whole lot more once you have experienced the swings for yourself.
Why Playing Pick ’Em Poker in Rand Works in Your Favour
Here is the part that counts most for us South Africans. Springbok Casino is a rand-based casino through and through, so you deposit, bet, and cash out in rand from the start. Coin values on Pick ’Em Poker run from R0.05 up to R5, every win pays out in rand, and there is no currency conversion sitting between you and your money.
That counts for a lot on a game this volatile. Every swing already puts pressure on your balance, and the last thing you need is a conversion fee eating into every deposit and withdrawal on top of it. Playing in rand at our South African online casino keeps your whole bankroll in the game. The only thing moving your balance is the outcome of the cards on that day!
New players have a few sign-up offers to look at, too. The promotions menu has more than one, from the well-known R11,500 three-part welcome to our R250 no deposit bonus triggered by the TEST-SPRINGBOK code. They lean toward slots rather than video poker, so treat Pick ’Em Poker as a game you play in rand, purely for the love of the format.
Pick ’Em Poker and Video Poker FAQs, Answered
Are you still scratching your head? That’s okay! Hearing things in theory doesn’t always result in ‘clicking’ until you put it into practice. That said, there are a few frequently asked questions relating to Pick ‘Em Poker that we are going to answer right now. We’re here to arm you with the facts so you’re ready when you hit the tables at Springbok Casino!
Question: Is Pick ’Em Poker a good game for beginners?
Yebo yes! It is one of the best starting points in the whole video poker section. You make a single choice per hand instead of juggling five separate holds, so familiarising yourself with the rules becomes a whole lot easier. It is precisely why our video poker tips for beginners point you here first. Get this down pat, and move on to Jacks or Better!
Question: Is Pick ’Em Poker high or low volatility?
Springbok Casino rates Pick ’Em Poker as high volatility, no question, even though it is an inherently easy game to play. As we’ve mentioned, small hands like a pair of 9s pay out often, yet the big boy payouts are tied to the hands at the top of the paytable. Brace yourself for proper dry runs between the bigger wins, and make sure your bankroll can withstand the swings.
Question: What makes Pick ’Em Poker different from Jacks or Better?
It all comes down to how many decisions you face on each hand. Pick ’Em Poker gives you one choice, keeping one of two three-card sets, while Jacks or Better has you holding or discarding each of your five cards. Both pay on low hands, so the wins are rather frequent, but Pick ’Em Poker is easily the simpler of the two to pick up from scratch.
Question: What is the smallest bet on Pick ’Em Poker?
You can start from a single coin at R0.05, a five-cent bet, all the way up to five coins at R5 for a R25 hand. The video poker tips above point you towards five coins for that top-hand bonus, so the smartest small-budget move is a low coin value held at the full five, keeping a hand as cheap as R0.25 while still unlocking the bonus payouts.
It’s Your Move, Bokke – Take on Pick ’Em Poker at Springbok Casino!
What did we learn? Pick ’Em Poker is the easiest way into video poker at Springbok Casino, but now you can see the catch hiding behind how simple it looks! Start in practice mode, get the single-decision format under your belt for free, then bring out the real rand once those swings hold no surprises for you and your bankroll is ready for them.
When you are ready, log in, set those coins to five, and pick the denomination that suits your bankroll. Keep these video poker tips close, play in rand on a game that asks one clear decision of you, and back yourself with confidence on every single hand you play. That, mense, is how a Bok plays smart at Springbok Casino!