Comparing Digital Platforms and Brick-and-Mortar Casinos for Optimal Video Poker Payouts
The question I get asked most often these days—and I mean constantly—is simple: “Where should I actually be playing video poker?” The answer used to be straightforward. You’d drive to Vegas, hit a locals casino downtown, and grind away at 9/6 Jacks or Better. Simple.
Except it’s 2025 now, and the landscape has completely flipped on its head. The best video poker opportunities aren’t always where you’d expect them to be anymore.
Why Online Casinos Offer Superior Pay Tables: Lower Overhead Costs Allow Digital Platforms to Provide 99%+ Returns That Land-Based Casinos Can’t Match
Let me be blunt: online casinos are crushing it when it comes to video poker. And there’s a straightforward reason why.
Real estate costs money. A lot of money. When a casino operator is paying for physical floor space, surveillance systems, security, dealers, electricity, and all the other overhead that comes with a brick-and-mortar operation, they have to extract maximum value from every square foot. That means every machine needs to produce as much revenue as possible.
Online? It’s completely different. One server can host thousands of video poker machines. The electricity cost is minimal compared to running an entire gaming floor. There are no physical machines to maintain. Customer acquisition is more efficient through targeted digital marketing. The cost structure is so dramatically lower that online operators can afford to offer games that would bankrupt a land-based casino.
This is why you’ll find Game King machines at online casinos with 99.73% RTP on Deuces Wild. These are games that are essentially break-even for the casino if you play perfectly. They can exist online because the operator’s costs are a fraction of what a Vegas casino spends just to keep the lights on.
Let me give you real numbers. A full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better at a land-based casino generates less than 0.5% in revenue. At a busy casino doing 500 hands per hour across many machines, that still barely covers a single machine’s wear and tear and floor space allocation. Online? That same game is profitable because there’s no physical footprint cost.
Here’s something that surprised me when I first discovered it: in 2023, Sam’s Town in Las Vegas removed its last full-pay Deuces Wild machine. You know what that means? The last 100%+ RTP video poker machine in Nevada. The reason it’s gone? A land-based casino couldn’t justify keeping a machine that had a theoretical player advantage. Online casinos literally don’t have this constraint.
I’ve played at multiple online casinos with Game King video poker offering RTPs that top out at 99.73% for Deuces Wild variants. That’s legitimately better odds than you’ll find anywhere physically in the world right now. The house edge on these games is so thin that they only work as a long-term profit center for the casino because their cost structure allows it.
Another advantage of online: they don’t have to worry about player psychology in the same way. Land-based casinos specifically position better-paying machines in less visible areas because they want players on the floor gambling. Online casinos don’t care where you play—they just care that you’re playing on their site.
The basic economics are undeniable. If a land-based casino offers 99% RTP video poker across the board, they’re operating at margins too thin to sustain their physical operation. Online casinos? They’re thriving with exactly those margins.
The Geographic Factor: Pay Table Variations by State and Country—How Regulations and Competition Determine Whether You’ll Find 9/6 or 6/5 Machines in Your Location
Geography matters more than people realize when it comes to video poker quality.
Let me break down what’s actually available depending on where you live. This is ground-level intel from someone who’s traveled and played in most major markets.
Las Vegas Strip: Pretty much a wasteland for serious video poker players. Your best game is probably 9/6 Jacks or Better at $5 and higher denominations. Most of what you’ll find is 8/5 at best, with plenty of 7/5 games. The worst part? There isn’t a single 100%+ game available anywhere on the Strip. The casinos there would rather have higher margins than player retention through good odds. Caesars Palace and Cosmopolitan have some decent 9/6 machines if you’re willing to bet high, but generally you’re looking at a tough environment.
Downtown Las Vegas: This is where the action actually is. Plaza, Four Queens, Main Street Station (when it eventually reopens fully), El Cortez—these places understand that locals are the real money. You can find 10/7 Double Bonus (100.17% RTP) at Four Queens. Plaza has multiple machines with 99%+ RTP. These casinos compete for repeat business, not just tourist dollars, so they offer games worth playing. It’s a completely different world from the Strip.
Other Vegas Locals Casinos: Station Casinos properties are consistently good. Boulder Station, Green Valley Ranch, Sunset Station—they all have “Up to 99.8%” banks with 10/7 Double Bonus and other full-pay games. Same with Boyd Gaming properties.
Atlantic City, New Jersey: This is actually a surprisingly good market. Places like Golden Nugget Atlantic City and Tropicana Atlantic City have online gambling, and they offer competitive video poker. The advantage here is that New Jersey has online gaming regulated in a way that creates competition between casinos. When players can instantly switch to a competitor online, casinos have to offer decent pay tables.
Pennsylvania: Same situation as New Jersey. Online platforms like Hollywood Casino and SugarHouse offer solid video poker. The Game King machines they provide through their online operations are legitimately high-quality.
Other States: This is where it gets grim. If you’re in most of the country, your options are limited to whatever local land-based casino decided to offer. Many smaller casinos have absolutely brutal pay tables—think 6/5 Jacks or Better which pays only 94.99%. The regulations vary wildly by state, and some states have basically no video poker culture.
Here’s the thing about state regulations: some states prohibit electronic gaming entirely. Others allow it but leave the specifics to individual casinos. A few states like Nevada have relatively liberal rules about what pay tables casinos can offer. This creates wildly different experiences depending on where you are.
The irony? You might be better off flying to Vegas and playing online than trying to find anything decent at a casino an hour from your house.
Mobile Video Poker Apps: The New Frontier for Full-Pay Games—Smartphone Platforms Revolutionize Access to High-Return Video Poker Variants Anywhere, Anytime
Here’s where things get genuinely interesting for the average player.
Mobile video poker has gone from a gimmick to a legitimate alternative in a really short time. In 2025, you can genuinely play high-quality video poker on your phone that you’d be thrilled to find in a physical casino.
The technology has improved dramatically. Games run smoothly even on older phones. The interface is actually designed for touch screens rather than just squeezed onto a small version of a desktop. And most importantly, the pay tables are often fantastic.
Let me be specific about what’s available. DuckyLuck Casino offers 14 different video poker variations on mobile, including multiple versions of Deuces Wild. Wild Casino has nine Deuces Wild variations that you can play 1 to 100 hands simultaneously. SlotsandCasino has similarly extensive options. The best part? These games are optimized for mobile play with real-money stakes starting as low as a nickel if you want.
Game King machines—yes, those legendary IGT cabinets—are now available through certain online casinos specifically optimized for mobile. You can get the authentic Game King experience playing 3-play or 5-play poker right on your phone.
Here’s the practical advantage: you can play literally anywhere. Waiting for an appointment? Sitting in traffic (okay, you shouldn’t actually do this)? On a plane? At a coffee shop? The games are right there. This changes the game for people who don’t have easy access to good land-based casinos.
Another massive advantage is the ability to learn. Many apps offer free-play modes where you can practice strategy without risking money. Some include strategy trainers that literally tell you whether you’re making optimal plays. Try getting that coaching at a physical machine—it doesn’t exist.
The RTP percentages? Legitimately competitive with the best you’ll find anywhere. I’m talking 99.54% for full-pay Jacks or Better. I’m talking 99.73% for certain Deuces Wild variations. These are the same percentages you’d fight to find at a local casino.
One caveat: you need to be in a state where this is legal. Online gambling is only regulated and legal in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. If you’re elsewhere, you’re basically out of luck unless you want to risk unregulated sites.
For anyone in a regulated state, though? Mobile is genuinely a game-changer. You get access to better pay tables than most land-based casinos, you can play from anywhere, and the technology is now solid enough that there’s no real trade-off in the playing experience.
Las Vegas Strip vs. Downtown vs. Online: A Pay Table Comparison—Real Data Reveals Where Players Get the Best Odds—and the Results May Surprise You
Let me break down actual numbers from actual machines I’ve played on.
Las Vegas Strip – Caesars Palace:
- Best game: 9/6 Jacks or Better at $5 and higher
- RTP: 99.54%
- House edge: 0.46%
- Expected loss at $5/hand for 500 hands: $11.50
Las Vegas Strip – Aria:
- Best game: 9/6 Jacks or Better at $5+
- RTP: 99.54%
- Reality: Most players never see this because they’re not betting $5 per hand
Downtown Las Vegas – Plaza:
- Best game: 10/7 Double Bonus (but it’s gone—upgraded to other games)
- Current best: 9/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe at $0.25, $0.50, $1, $2, $5
- RTP: 99.64%
- House edge: 0.36%
- Expected loss at $1.25/hand for 500 hands: $2.25
Downtown Las Vegas – Four Queens:
- Best game: 10/7 Double Bonus
- Denominations: Quarter and dollar only
- RTP: 100.17%
- House edge: Negative 0.17% (player advantage!)
- Expected “loss” at $1.25/hand for 500 hands: Player advantage varies by strategy
Online Casino – Game King (Pennsylvania/New Jersey):
- Best game: Deuces Wild Triple-Play or Five-Play
- RTP: 99.73%
- House edge: 0.27%
- Stake flexibility: Can play from $0.05 to $500 per hand
- Expected loss at $0.25/hand for 500 hands: $0.34
Here’s what this reveals: if you’re on the Strip, you’re basically gambling against terrible odds unless you’re betting at least $5 per hand to access the decent games. Downtown, you can find legitimately good games at $1 or $2 maximum bet. Online, you get access to the best mathematics AND flexible stakes.
The truly shocking part? The difference between Strip and Downtown is enormous when you factor in total cost. If you play the same number of hands at the same RTP percentage, you’re paying roughly 30 times more in expected loss on the Strip versus Downtown.
Online? You’re paying 10 times less than Strip, and you’re getting better math.
This is why serious players don’t stay on the Strip for video poker. It’s not because the games are terrible—they’re playable. It’s because you can literally get 50-100% better value a few miles away downtown.
The online numbers would be even more compelling except for the limitation that it’s only available in certain states. If you’re in the right jurisdiction, there’s almost no reason to play anywhere else unless you specifically want the in-person casino experience.
Bonuses and Comps: How Rewards Programs Change the Payback Equation—Calculating True Expected Value When Factoring Casino Loyalty Points, Cashback, and Promotional Offers
This is where it gets complicated because casinos are incredibly smart about how they structure loyalty programs.
Let me explain how the math actually works. When you’re evaluating a video poker game, you can’t just look at the RTP percentage anymore. You have to factor in what the casino is returning to you through comps and rewards.
The Basic Formula:
Total Expected Value = Game RTP + Loyalty Rewards Rate
Here’s an example from a real casino. Let’s say you’re playing a 99% RTP game at a Caesars Rewards property. At Caesars, video poker earns you 1 Tier Credit and 1 Reward Credit for every $10 wagered.
Rewards are usually worth about $0.01-0.02 per $10 wagered depending on what tier you are. So if we’re being conservative and say you’re earning $0.015 per $10, that’s 0.15% return.
Now your calculation looks like this:
99% (game RTP) + 0.15% (loyalty return) = 99.15% total expected value
That’s better than the raw number suggested.
But here’s where it gets tricky. Most casinos reduce loyalty earn rates for video poker compared to slots. Why? Because video poker has higher RTP to begin with. They’re trying to keep the math consistent across their floor so players generate similar revenue regardless of what they’re playing.
The Reward Credit Reality:
At Caesars, you earn 1 Reward Credit per $10 played on video poker, but only 1 per $5 on slots. The Reward Credit is worth roughly $0.01, so that’s 0.2% on slots versus 0.1% on video poker. The casino is explicitly compensating slot players at a higher rate for playing a worse game.
What this means practically: if you’re earning comps and rewards while playing video poker, you can add 0.1-0.3% to whatever the game’s base RTP is. With a good 99%+ game, you might push into 99.3-99.5% territory.
Cashback Programs:
Some online casinos offer explicit cashback, which is more straightforward. For example, some sites offer 10-25% cashback on losses. This is immediately valuable because it directly reduces your net loss.
If you’re playing a 99% game with 25% cashback on losses:
- You expect to lose 1% or $100 on $10,000 wagered
- With 25% cashback, you get back $25 of that loss
- Your net loss is $75
- Your effective RTP is 99.75%
This is why some recreational players actually do okay online even with mediocre games—the cashback can salvage an otherwise brutal situation.
The Professional Angle:
Serious video poker players factor all of this in. They’re not just looking at the game pay table. They’re calculating:
Total $ wagered × Game RTP × (1 + Comp Rate) = Expected return
If a game with 99.54% RTP has a 0.2% comp rate, that’s worth about 99.74% total expected return.
An 8/5 game with 97.3% RTP but a higher 0.4% comp rate (because it’s a worse game) ends up being 97.7%.
The difference is small, but over thousands of hands, small becomes significant.
The Trap:
Here’s where most players go wrong: they overvalue comps. You don’t actually get the theoretical value of your comp credits unless you spend them. If you earn $100 in comp credits but they expire after a year, and you can’t use them before expiration, that money is worth zero.
Additionally, some casinos explicitly exclude their best video poker machines from earning points. They’ll mark certain games as “ineligible for player’s club earn.” This is how they try to prevent advantage players from grinding +EV games while also earning comps.
The Winning Strategy:
The best approach is to find a casino with genuinely good video poker (99%+ RTP) that also offers solid rewards. Then calculate your total expected value including comps.
For most players, the comp structure doesn’t change the fundamental truth: play the best pay table you can find. The comps are a bonus on top, not the primary consideration.
Real-World Scenarios: Which Option Works Best for Different Player Types
Let me break down which choice makes the most sense depending on who you are.
The Casual Player ($100-300 monthly budget):
If you’re playing casually and just want entertainment, physical location is secondary. Pick whichever offers better odds. If you’re in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, play online. The flexibility beats everything else. You can play from home, set strict time limits easily, and access games that genuinely are better than what you’ll find in Atlantic City.
If you’re outside a regulated state, find your nearest locals casino (not the Strip) and go there occasionally. The games will be better than most places, and you’ll get some comps that soften the blow.
The Grinder ($500+ monthly action):
For serious players, online is almost always the answer if available. The math is just better. An extra 0.5% RTP across thousands of monthly hands translates to real money. The flexible stakes also matter because you can optimize bet sizing for your bankroll.
I know serious video poker players in New Jersey and Pennsylvania who have basically stopped visiting Vegas because the online options are so much better. Why spend time and money traveling when you can get superior games instantly from home?
The Vegas Enthusiast:
If you’re going to Vegas for the experience, you’re spending the money anyway. In that case, skip the Strip and go downtown. The games are legitimately better, the vibe is more authentic, and you’ll have a better session in terms of expected value. The difference between 99.64% and 97% RTP is enormous over a weekend of play.
I typically spend 3-4 hours daily at Plaza or Four Queens when I’m in Vegas. The games are solid, and I know exactly what I’m getting. It beats the stress of hunting for decent machines on the Strip.
State-by-State Strategy: How to Actually Find the Best Games
Here’s my practical guide to finding the best video poker in your area without wasting time.
New Jersey: Play online. Golden Nugget Atlantic City is excellent, but their online offering is even better. Tropicana is also solid. You get 99%+ games on mobile that you won’t find on their casino floors.
Pennsylvania: Online is the move. Game King machines at Hollywood Casino and SugarHouse are legitimately excellent. I’ve spent significant time there, and the pay tables are consistently competitive.
Nevada: Depends. If you’re a local, find a locals casino (Station Casinos, Boyd Gaming properties). If you’re visiting, go downtown, not the Strip. Period.
Delaware: Small market, limited options. Online through DraftKings or similar is probably your best bet if available. Physical casinos have mediocre video poker.
Everywhere Else: This is rough. Most states have either no video poker or terrible pay tables. Online is your only real option if you’re in a regulated jurisdiction. Otherwise, you’re basically playing for entertainment value, not profitable long-term play.
If you’re in an unregulated state and want to play video poker online, you’re entering a legal gray area. I’m not going to recommend it, but I’ll acknowledge that people do it. Unregulated offshore sites exist, but I would never put my money there. The risk of not being paid out is real.
Technology: The Ongoing Evolution
One thing people don’t appreciate: technology improvements are making online video poker steadily better.
Mobile optimization has gotten so good that I genuinely prefer playing on an iPhone now to sitting at a land-based machine. The screen resolution is excellent, the controls are responsive, and I can control my game speed.
Game King machines online now support multi-hand play (up to 100 hands simultaneously). This lets skilled players optimize their bankroll management by spreading action across multiple simultaneous hands. Land-based casinos literally can’t offer this without physical space limitations.
Graphics are improving too. Not that this matters for the math, but the improved user experience means fewer mistakes. When you’re more comfortable at the machine, you make better strategic decisions.
The evolution isn’t finished. I expect to see even better technology integration soon. Some operators are experimenting with live dealer video poker where you’re playing against a real human dealer on camera. The RTP on these games is typically slightly lower (98-99%) but the entertainment value is completely different.
The Reality Check: What Actually Matters
After all this deep-dive analysis, here’s what actually separates winners from losers in video poker:
It’s not where you play. It’s that you play optimal strategy.
I’ve seen people lose money on 99.54% games because they had no idea what strategy was. I’ve also seen people grind out small profits on 97% games because they knew exactly what they were doing.
The pay table is important—it’s the foundation. But it’s not everything.
Find a game with 99%+ RTP if possible. Online is usually your best bet here. But then, actually invest time in learning strategy. Use strategy guides. Use training apps. Practice until the decisions are automatic.
If you do this, you’ll have a mathematical advantage or near-parity against the house depending on the game. You’ll grind out small profits or minimal losses over long periods.
If you don’t learn strategy, even the best games in the world won’t help you.
I mention this because I’ve had people ask me where to play, I point them to great games, and six months later they ask why they lost money. Usually it’s because they didn’t actually learn optimal strategy.
The Bottom Line: Make Your Decision Based on Reality
After all this analysis, here’s what actually matters:
Online is objectively better for pay tables in 2025. If you have access to regulated online gambling, you should strongly consider it as your primary platform. The RTP percentages are superior, the stakes are flexible, and there’s no travel involved. This is just mathematical fact at this point.
If you’re forced to play land-based, get downtown or to locals casinos when possible. The Strip is beautiful, but it’s not where professionals play video poker. The economics don’t work there unless you’re betting high enough to access the high-limit games, which most people can’t afford anyway.
Factor in loyalty programs, but don’t overestimate their value. An extra 0.2% from comps on an already good game is nice. It doesn’t transform a bad game into a good one.
Ultimately, the best place to play is wherever offers the highest RTP combined with your personal circumstances. Check the pay tables. Do the math. Then make an informed decision.
Learn strategy regardless of where you play. This matters more than the exact RTP percentage.
That’s how you actually win at this game.
The future of video poker is digital. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing depends on your perspective, but it’s undeniable. The players who adapt fastest will have the best experiences and the best odds. Everyone else will be chasing increasingly worse games at increasingly inconvenient locations.
Don’t be part of that group. Be smart about where you put your money. The casinos aren’t going to do it for you.
