Machine and Number Games
How to Play Video Poker
A five-card machine game where decisions matter and the pay table sets the return.
Video poker is a machine game that uses a single 52-card deck and deals five cards to the player. The player chooses which cards to hold, the rest are replaced once, and the final hand is paid according to the machine's pay table. There is no opponent and no dealer hand.
Unlike slot machines, the return of a video poker machine can be calculated exactly, because every possible card combination is known. Two things decide long-run results: the pay table on the machine and the accuracy of the player's decisions. A Jacks or Better machine with a 9/6 table returns 99.54%, while an identical-looking machine with a 6/5 table returns only 95.00%.
The Jacks or Better 9/6 Pay Table
The name 9/6 comes from the full house paying nine credits and the flush six credits for each credit staked. Those two lines are the ones casinos most often reduce in order to lower the return of a machine.
| Hand | 1 credit | 5 credits | Chance of occurring |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 250 | 4,000 | 0.0025% |
| Straight flush | 50 | 250 | 0.0109% |
| Four of a kind | 25 | 125 | 0.236% |
| Full house | 9 | 45 | 1.151% |
| Flush | 6 | 30 | 1.101% |
| Straight | 4 | 20 | 1.123% |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 15 | 7.445% |
| Two pair | 2 | 10 | 12.928% |
| Jacks or better | 1 | 5 | 21.459% |
| No payout | 0 | 0 | 54.543% |
How the Pay Table Changes the Return
Changing two lines of a pay table can cost more than every strategy error an average player is likely to make.
| Table | Full house | Flush | Return | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/6 | 9 | 6 | 99.54% | 0.46% |
| 9/5 | 9 | 5 | 98.45% | 1.55% |
| 8/5 | 8 | 5 | 97.30% | 2.70% |
| 7/5 | 7 | 5 | 96.15% | 3.85% |
| 6/5 | 6 | 5 | 95.00% | 5.00% |
9/6 machines are becoming scarce. Checking those two lines before inserting money is the single most important step in playing video poker.
Common Video Poker Variants
Each variant uses its own hand ranking and pay table. The returns below apply to the full-pay version of each game played with correct strategy.
| Variant | Main feature | Return |
|---|---|---|
| Jacks or Better 9/6 | The lowest paying hand is a pair of jacks | 99.54% |
| Full-pay Deuces Wild | Twos act as wild cards | 100.76% |
| Bonus Poker 8/5 | Four of a kind pays differently by rank | 99.17% |
| Double Double Bonus 9/6 | Four of a kind with certain kickers pays more | 98.98% |
| Full-pay Joker Poker | A joker is added to the deck | 98.60% |
The figure above one hundred percent for full-pay Deuces Wild applies only when every decision follows that variant's strategy exactly, and machines carrying that table are very rare. Machines with reduced tables return considerably less.
How a Round of Video Poker Is Played
A single round of Video Poker follows the sequence below. The same sequence applies at a physical table and at a live dealer table streamed to a screen.
- Check the pay tableLook at the full house and flush lines. Nine and six mark a full-pay machine; eight and five or lower reduce the return materially.
- Choose a denomination and load fundsPick a denomination at which five credits still fits the budget, for example a 1-unit machine for a 5-unit stake per hand.
- Stake five creditsPress the maximum bet button. Only at five credits does a royal flush pay 800 times the stake.
- Five cards are dealtThe machine shuffles a full deck and displays the first five cards.
- Mark the cards to holdCompare the hand against the basic strategy priority order, then press hold on the cards to keep.
- Draw once to replace the restCards not held are replaced from the same deck. There is no second draw.
- The final hand is paidThe machine compares the final hand against the pay table and adds the credits due.
The Basic Strategy Priority Order
Video poker strategy takes the form of a priority list: from the five cards dealt, hold the highest combination that appears on the list. The order below applies to Jacks or Better 9/6 and covers nearly every hand that can occur.
- A completed royal flush, straight flush or four of a kind.
- Four cards to a royal flush.
- A completed full house, flush, three of a kind or straight.
- Four cards to a straight flush.
- Two pair.
- A pair of jacks or higher.
- Three cards to a royal flush.
- Four cards to a flush.
- A low pair, meaning a pair of tens or lower.
- Four cards to an open-ended straight.
- Two suited high cards.
- Three cards to a straight flush.
- Two unsuited high cards; where there are more than two, hold the lowest two.
- One high card.
- If none of the above applies, discard all five cards.
The list is read from the top: as soon as a line matches the hand dealt, that is the combination to hold and the lines below it need not be checked.
Compared with Slot Machines
Video poker and slot machines are both machine games, but they differ on one essential point: the return of a video poker machine can be verified before playing.
| Aspect | Video poker | Slot machines |
|---|---|---|
| Return | Calculable from the pay table | Known only from the operator's statement |
| Influence of decisions | Large, worth several percent | None |
| Best house edge | 0.46% on a 9/6 table | About 2% on the best machines |
| Frequency of payouts | About 45% of hands pay something | 10% to 35% of spins |
| Largest payout | 4,000 credits on a royal flush | Potentially far more on a progressive |
Video Poker Terminology
The terms below are the ones heard most often at the Video Poker table. A wider list is available in the casino glossary.
- Full-pay table
- The highest payout schedule a variant has ever used, such as 9/6 in Jacks or Better.
- Hold
- The button that marks a card to be kept through the draw.
- Royal flush
- Ten, jack, queen, king and ace of one suit; the highest payout in video poker.
- Denomination
- The value of one credit on the machine, which sets the size of a five-credit bet.
- Wild card
- A card that substitutes for any other, such as a two in Deuces Wild.
Video Poker FAQ
Why must video poker be played at five credits?
Because a royal flush pays 250 times the stake at one to four credits but 800 times at five. Betting fewer than five credits lowers the return of the machine by about 1.4%.
What does 9/6 mean on a Jacks or Better machine?
It means a full house pays nine credits and a flush six credits for each credit staked. A 9/6 table returns 99.54%, while an 8/5 table returns only 97.30%.
Does video poker use a genuinely random deck?
The machine uses one 52-card deck reshuffled every hand by a random number generator. Because the number of cards is known, every probability can be calculated, unlike slot machines whose symbol weightings are not published.
Does a return above one hundred percent mean guaranteed profit?
No. It is a long-run average over hundreds of thousands of hands played with perfect decisions, and most of that return is concentrated in a royal flush that occurs roughly once in forty thousand hands.
How often does a video poker hand pay?
In Jacks or Better, about 45% of hands produce a payout, with a pair of jacks or better the most frequent result at 21.46% of hands.
Does one variant's strategy work for another?
Not entirely. Each variant has its own priority order because the pay tables differ. Using Jacks or Better strategy on Deuces Wild costs several percentage points of return.