When it comes to video poker there is no one size fits all strategy or paytable. That’s because there are so many different options out there that video poker doesn’t fit into one small category. Since it is practically impossible to go over every aspect of video poker we will focus on some of the more important ones.
Playing Video Poker
The way you play video poker is by inserting your money into the machine and then hitting the “Deal” button. This will draw your cards. Some newer machines don’t take coins but rather tickets that have been credited and have a barcode to swipe. Once the cards are dealt the player has the opportunity to either keep or discard his cards. Cards that are discarded may be replaced with new cards from the deck. After the new cards are dealt then your hand will be evaluated and if you have a hand that is listed in the paytable then you will be paid the corresponding payout.
When you have a pair of jacks or better then you are in the money. The Paytables pay different hands based on how likely you are to have that particular hand. The more rare the hand, the higher the payout.
Types of Video Poker
Many video poker machines use the typical five card draw. However, there may be some newer machines out there that use different draws so keep your eyes open for this. One variation that is common is Deuces Wild. This simply means that twos, also called deuces, are wild cards. With four deuces you could win the jackpot.
Some video poker machines employ multi play games. This simply means that you could have your base hand and additional draws from other hands for multi play. This is frequently called Triple Play, Ten Play, all the way up to One Hundred Play in some instances.
Paytables
A return percentage is what is used to determine the odds of electronic games like video poker. In card game, it’s the house edge. The return percentage is comparable to the house edge.
It’s interesting to compare these two simply because in casinos the return percentage is generally a little less than 100% in order for the casino to make its part. However when it comes to video poker games it is not uncommon to find the return to be more than 100%. In this case, really good players who know strategy will actually have the advantage over the machine.
You will find many books and websites offering paytables for video poker. However, these take into account only optimal strategy in most cases. The vast majority of video poker players do not use the optimal strategy because they have not studied it or perfected it. As a result, when you look at these numbers you should keep in mind your skill and whether or not you use the optimal strategy.
Luckily, there are some easier strategies that can be learned quickly and implemented that have almost as good results. When it comes to making smart decisions on video poker sometimes the smartest decision is choosing the right machine.
Jacks or Better
Of all the video poker out there, Jacks or Better is the most common game. You will begin receiving payouts with this game when you have a pair of jacks or higher. Sometimes Full pay Jacks or Better is also referred to as 9/6 Jacks or Better. The numbers simply refer to a full house payoff for the 9 and a flush payoff for the 6. Here you can see the theoretical returns for full pay Jacks or Better with five credits and the theoretical return for only 1 credit. This table assumes perfect strategy:
Hand |
1 credit |
5 credits |
| Royal Flush |
250 |
4000 with a Theoretical Return 98.05% 99.54% |
| Straight Flush |
50 |
250 |
| Four of a kind |
25 |
125 |
| Full House |
9 |
45 |
| Flush |
6 |
30 |
| Straight |
4 |
20 |
| Three of a Kind |
3 |
15 |
| Two Pair |
2 |
10 |
| Jacks or Better |
1 |
5 |
The theoretical return for 2-4 credits is the same as 1 credit. Only 5 credits, which is full pay, increases the probability by almost 1 ½ percent.
Tens or Better
A variation of the 6/5 Jacks or Better is Tens or Better. This game is played similarly to Jacks or Better except the payout begins at a pair of 10s. The payouts are significantly different between the two games; however the strategy is basically the same.
Deuces Wild
This popular video poker variation is fun because all of the 2s are wild. It is common to call 2s deuces in poker and that is the inspiration for the name of the game. A wild card is simply a “free” card that can be any card you want it to be. Whatever card you need the wild card and substitute for it so you can improve your hand. With deuces wild you can anticipate to have four of a kind on average once in every 15 hands. With this hand the payout is about 1/3 of the game’s payback percentage.
When you play this game with the perfect strategy you could reach a theoretical return as high as 100.762%. Few people can play with perfect strategy, but it is nice to aspire to it. There are other payouts that have lower theoretical returns.
Hand |
1 credit |
2 credits |
3 credits |
4 credits |
5 credits |
| Natural Royal Flush |
300 |
600 |
900 |
1200 |
4000* |
| Four Deuces |
200 |
400 |
600 |
800 |
1000 |
| Wild Royal Flush |
25 |
50 |
75 |
100 |
125 |
| Five of a Kind |
15 |
30 |
45 |
60 |
75 |
| Straight Flush |
9 |
18 |
27 |
36 |
45 |
| Four of a Kind |
5 |
10 |
15 |
20 |
25 |
| Full House |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
| Flush |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
| Straight |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
| Three of a Kind |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Look at the difference in the payoff for the Natural Royal Flush with four credits and five credits. There is a big gap and most video poker machines have this gap. Because of this, if you don’t play full credits on each play then you will be facing negative theoretical returns.
Bonus Poker
You already know about Jacks or Better and “Bonus Poker” is a video poker game that is based on this game. The difference is that with four of a kind in Bonus Poker you will receive a higher percentage payout. You will be dealt five cards and then it is up to you to determine what cards you want to keep and the cards you want to discard. Depending on your choice new cards will be dealt. In order to win at Bonus Poker your final hand must include a least a pair of Jacks or more to receive a payout.
Double Bonus
Jacks or Better has several variations and Double Bonus is another one of them. For this particular game payouts are given for four aces. The theoretical return for this particular variation is 100.1725% if perfect strategy is used when playing. If you play with perfect strategy and you play on a 10/7 video poker machine then you can reach this variation of theoretical payout. They payouts for a full house is 10 and a flush is 7, that’s why this would be called 10/7 version. Other payout versions may be 10/6 of 9/6, but 10/7 is the most generous and the one with the best returns. Check out the following graph to understand better the theoretical returns for various credits.
Hand |
1 credit |
2 credits |
3 credits |
4 credits |
5 credits |
| Royal Flush |
250 |
500 |
750 |
1000 |
4000* |
| Straight Flush |
50 |
100 |
150 |
200 |
250 |
| Four Aces |
160 |
320 |
480 |
640 |
800 |
| Four 2, 3, or 4 |
80 |
160 |
240 |
320 |
400 |
| Four 5-K |
50 |
100 |
150 |
200 |
250 |
| Full House |
10 |
20 |
30 |
40 |
50 |
| Flush |
7 |
14 |
21 |
28 |
35 |
| Straight |
5 |
10 |
15 |
20 |
25 |
| Three of a Kind |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
| Two Pair |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Jacks or Better |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
It is recommended to play with full credits to maximize the theoretical return. You can see the difference in the payout for a Royal Flush played with five credits and then one played with only four credits.
Double Double Bonus
Jacks or Better has yet another variation with Double Double Bonus. This particular version offers payouts for four of a kind. You can see there are different payouts for various four of a kinds depending on the cards you hold. Look at the graph below to better understand the payouts for Double Double Bonus and what you can expect to win for different hands.
Hand |
1 credit |
2 credits |
3 credits |
4 credits |
5 credits |
| Royal Flush |
250 |
500 |
750 |
1000 |
4000* |
| Straight Flush |
50 |
100 |
150 |
200 |
250 |
| Four Aces w/2, 3, or 4 |
400 |
800 |
1200 |
1600 |
2000 |
| Four 2, 3, or 4 w/A-4 |
160 |
320 |
480 |
640 |
800 |
| Four Aces |
160 |
320 |
480 |
640 |
800 |
| Four 2, 3, or 4 |
80 |
160 |
240 |
320 |
400 |
| Four 5-K |
50 |
100 |
150 |
200 |
250 |
| Full House |
10 |
20 |
30 |
40 |
50 |
| Flush |
6 |
12 |
18 |
24 |
30 |
| Straight |
4 |
8 |
12 |
16 |
20 |
| Three of a Kind |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
| Two Pair |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Jacks or Better |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
The large gap between the four and five credits payout shows that if you don’t bet the full bet you will be playing with a negative theoretical return.
Sequential Royal
One of the best hands to win playing on a machine that pays a bonus for this is the sequential royal flush. You could potentially bet five coins and win 5000 coins. Not bad for a game of video poker! Sequential royals almost always pay left to right, but if it is different then it will be stated so on the machine. You won’t find too many video poker machines offering Sequential Royal, but it is worth playing for fun if you do.
Video Poker Strategy
You can learn optimal strategy and play incredibly well in video poker. The problem is that learning and implementing this strategy is incredibly complicated. Fortunately, there are several other strategies that are easier to learn and implement that are still extremely effective and only reduce your odds by a small percentage.
Video poker cards are very handy and should be owned by anyone who is serious about playing. When playing video poker it is highly recommended that you play the full play i.e. five coins. The reason why is that if you hit the royal flush the payoff is incredibly higher and that would be worthwhile. Your return will be reduced by approximately 1.5% by not playing all five coins.
Overview of Video Poker
If you like playing slot machines then making the switch to video poker is truly worthwhile. It’s the only way you will be able to receive theoretical returns over 100% and when you add in comps and points you can really make some money. Video poker is more thought provoking, but it pays more and that’s worthwhile.
Basic Poker Strategy
