Video Poker Strategy Guide | Free Trainer & Pay Tables

How to Play Video Poker

1. Place your bet. Choose between 1 and 5 credits. Always bet 5 (max bet), the Royal Flush pays 4,000 credits at max bet versus only 1,250 at 4 credits. If max bet is too expensive, move to a lower denomination machine rather than cutting credits.
2. Receive five cards. Hit Deal and five cards are drawn from a freshly shuffled 52-card deck.
3. Choose which cards to hold. This is where all the strategy lives. Click any cards you want to keep. Your goal is to hold the combination with the highest expected value.
4. Draw and collect. Hit Draw. Unheld cards are replaced from the same deck. If your final hand qualifies on the pay table, you win. Most variants pay starting from a pair of Jacks.

Why Strategy Matters

A player using perfect strategy on a 9/6 Jacks or Better machine faces a house edge of just 0.46%. A player making random hold decisions on the exact same machine can face an effective edge ten times higher. The difference isn't luck, it's the hold decision on every single hand.

Video poker strategy is also learnable. Unlike blackjack card counting, there's no memorization of deck composition, just a priority list of what to hold in every situation. Use the strategy charts below and practice until the decisions become automatic.

Jacks or Better Strategy Chart (9/6 Full Pay — 99.54% RTP)

When your hand matches multiple rules, always follow the rule with the lower number. That rule takes priority.

1. Royal Flush — Hold all 5
2. Straight Flush — Hold all 5
3. Four of a Kind — Hold 4
4. 4 to a Royal Flush (e.g., J♥ Q♥ K♥ A♥) — Hold 4. This beats a Full House.
5. Full House — Hold all 5
6. Flush — Hold all 5
7. Straight — Hold all 5
8. Three of a Kind — Hold 3
9. 4 to a Straight Flush — Hold 4
10. Two Pair — Hold 4
11. High Pair (Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Aces) — Hold 2
12. 3 to a Royal Flush — Hold 3
13. 4 to a Flush — Hold 4
14. Low Pair (Twos through Tens) — Hold 2
15. 4 to an Outside Straight (e.g., 5-6-7-8) — Hold 4
16. 2 Suited High Cards (same-suit J, Q, K, or A) — Hold 2
17. 3 to a Straight Flush (0–1 gaps) — Hold 3
18. 2 Unsuited High Cards (any J, Q, K, A combination) — Hold 2
19. Suited 10 + High Card (e.g., 10♥ J♥) — Hold 2
20. 1 High Card (J, Q, K, or A — hold the highest) — Hold 1
21. 3 to a Straight Flush (2+ gaps, no high cards) — Hold 3
22. No playable combination — Discard all 5

Deuces Wild Strategy Chart (Full Pay — 100.76% RTP)

1. Natural Royal Flush (no deuces) — Hold all 5
2. Four Deuces — Hold all 5
3. Wild Royal Flush, Five of a Kind, Straight Flush — Hold all 5
4. Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight — Hold all 5
5. 4 to a Natural Royal Flush — Hold 4
6. Three of a Kind — Hold 3
7. 3 to a Natural Royal Flush — Hold 3
8. 4 to a Wild Royal or 4 to a Straight Flush — Hold 4
9. 3 to a Straight Flush — Hold 3
10. One Deuce with no better draw — Hold only the deuce
11. No deuces, no usable draws — Discard all 5

Double Bonus Strategy Chart (Full Pay 10/7 — 100.17% RTP)

1. Royal Flush — Hold all 5
2. Straight Flush — Hold all 5
3. Four Aces, Four 2s–4s, or 4 to a Royal Flush — Hold 4
4. Four 5s–Kings, Full House, Flush, Straight — Hold all 5
5. Three Aces — Hold 3
6. Three of a Kind or 4 to a Straight Flush — Hold 3–4
7. Two Pair — Hold 4
8. High Pair (Jacks or Better) — Hold 2
9. 3 to a Royal Flush or 4 to a Flush — Hold 3–4
10. Low Pair, straight draws, high cards — follow Jacks or Better rules above

Video Poker Variants

Pay Tables

The pay table version you play has a massive impact on your return. Always check the Full House and Flush payouts on a Jacks or Better machine before sitting down. If you see 9 and 6 respectively, it's full pay.

Jacks or Better

Full Pay (9/6): 99.54% RTP  |  Short Pay (8/5): 97.30%  |  Worst Case (6/5): ~95%

Deuces Wild (Full Pay)

Full Pay: 100.76% RTP with perfect strategy

Bonus Poker (Full Pay 8/5)

Full Pay (8/5): 99.17% RTP

Double Bonus Poker (Full Pay 10/7)

Full Pay (10/7): 100.17% RTP with perfect strategy

Double Double Bonus (Full Pay 9/5)

Full Pay (9/5): 98.98% RTP with perfect strategy

Best Online Casinos for Video Poker

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Video Poker Glossary

• Full Pay The pay table version yielding the highest possible RTP with optimal strategy. For Jacks or Better, this is the 9/6 schedule.
• Short Pay Any pay table with one or more values reduced from the full-pay standard. Often looks nearly identical but has significantly lower RTP.
• RTP (Return to Player) The percentage of wagered money returned to players over many hands. 99.54% RTP = 0.46% house edge.
• House Edge The casino's mathematical advantage per bet. Calculated as 100% minus RTP. Lower is better for players.
• Variance / Volatility How widely results swing from session to session. High variance means bigger wins and losses; low variance means steadier, more predictable play.
• Expected Value (EV) The average amount won or lost per hand based on probability. Strategy charts guide you to the highest EV hold for every dealt hand.
• Wild Card A card that substitutes for any other to complete a hand. Deuces Wild uses all four 2s; Joker Poker uses one Joker.
• Royal Flush A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit. The highest possible hand. Pays 4,000 credits at max bet in most variants.
• Max Bet The maximum credits per hand (usually 5) required to qualify for the full Royal Flush bonus payout. Always play max bet.
• Outside Straight Draw Four consecutive cards that can be completed on either end (e.g., 5-6-7-8 needs a 4 or 9). More valuable than an inside draw.
• Denomination The face value of each credit. A $1 machine at 5 credits = $5 per hand. Move to a lower denomination to play max bet affordably.
• Kicker In bonus variants, the fifth card accompanying Four of a Kind that may trigger an enhanced payout (e.g., Four Aces with a 2, 3, or 4 in Double Double Bonus).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best video poker game to play?

For most players, 9/6 Jacks or Better is the best starting point, 99.54% RTP, widely available, and a well-documented learnable strategy. Once you've mastered it, full pay Deuces Wild (100.76%) and Double Bonus 10/7 (100.17%) offer genuine player edges under perfect strategy.

What does "full pay" mean in video poker?

"Full pay" is the most favorable pay table version for a given variant, the one producing the highest RTP. For Jacks or Better, full pay is the 9/6 schedule: 9 for a Full House and 6 for a Flush per credit. An 8/5 machine has a 2.70% house edge vs. 0.46% for 9/6, nearly six times worse on the exact same game.

Should I always bet the maximum 5 credits?

Yes. The Royal Flush pays 250 per credit at bets of 1–4 credits, but 800 per credit (4,000 total) at 5 credits. That 3.2× multiplier makes max bet the only correct play in virtually every situation. If max bet is too expensive, switch to a lower denomination and still bet 5 credits there.

Can video poker be beaten long-term?

Yes, theoretically. Full pay Deuces Wild (100.76%), Double Bonus 10/7 (100.17%), All American (100.72%), and Joker Poker (100.64%) all have RTPs above 100% with perfect strategy. In practice, full-pay games are rare, the "long run" means millions of hands, and session variance is enormous. Casino comps can supplement the edge, but it's not as reliable as it sounds.

What's the house edge on different variants?

With optimal strategy: 9/6 JoB: 0.46% | 8/5 JoB: 2.70% | 6/5 JoB: ~5% | Full-pay Deuces Wild: −0.76% (player edge) | Double Bonus 10/7: −0.17% (player edge) | Bonus Poker 8/5: 0.83%. For comparison, European Roulette is 2.70% and American Roulette is 5.26%.

How do I find full-pay machines?

At physical casinos, check the on-screen pay table for Full House and Flush values. If you see 9 and 6 on a Jacks or Better machine, it's full pay. The site VPFree2.com catalogs full-pay machine locations across US casinos. Online, the pay table is always displayed before you play.

Is online video poker truly random?

At licensed casinos, yes. All certified operators use RNGs audited by independent labs like eCOGRA, iTech Labs, or GLI to confirm they replicate a physically shuffled deck. The theoretical RTPs listed for each variant apply to online versions exactly as they do to physical machines. Always play at licensed, audited operators.

What's the difference between video poker and regular poker?

Video poker is a single player game against a pay table, not against other players. There's no bluffing, no reading opponents, and no social pressure. Hand rankings are identical to standard poker, but strategy is entirely different, every correct hold is determined purely by expected value mathematics.