There is a big difference between playing regular poker and video poker and whilst they both have their advantages, an inexperienced player may find video poker a good way to learn the hands and the frequency with which good hands are likely to appear. Regular poker is of course a fantastic game but the problem is that you can still lose with a good hand and even with the best hand if you fail to back it all the way added to which when you start playing a good hand you never know for sure how much you are going to invest in that hand. Experienced players will often win hands with an average or poor hand because they recognise that another player might not be willing to go all the way and every time they do, somebody with the best hand is not winning. With video poker on the other hand which is available at all online casinos, if you have a winning hand you get paid out and you can never lose more than your original stake. It will be clearly stated on the table what odds are used to pay the various hands and if you are chasing the really big money go for a game with a progressive jackpot. Video poker still has some strategy involved as you will need a minimum hand to win which is usually a pair of jacks but check the table you are playing. What this means is that although a pair of tens might look good before the flop in a regular poker game, it is fairly weak in a video poker game as in order to win you will need to draw another 10 or a second pair in the three cards that you change. It can often be better to hold a single card which is jack or better to gamble on making a pair with the 4 cards that you change. Play free video poker and work out your own strategy.