Introduction
Video poker occupies a unique position in the casino gaming world. Unlike slot machines where strategy is meaningless, or table games where house edge is fixed, video poker rewards knowledge and decision-making.
Here’s the remarkable truth: video poker is one of the few casino games where skilled players can achieve near-break-even results or even positive expected value. This isn’t theoretical—professional players genuinely profit from video poker. No other common casino game offers this possibility.
But—and this is critical—only players who understand strategy and mathematics achieve these results. Casual players making intuitive decisions face the same house edge as slot machine players.
This guide bridges that gap. I’ll teach you the mathematics behind video poker, show you exact strategy tables for optimal decisions, explain why this game is mathematically superior to alternatives, and help you understand the mistakes that separate winning players from losing ones.
Whether you’re completely new to video poker or have played casually for years, this guide will improve your results dramatically.
Let’s start with the fundamentals.
Understanding Video Poker Basics
What Makes Video Poker Different
Video poker is fundamentally different from slot machines, despite similar appearance:
Slot Machines: You spin reels. Outcomes are completely random. No decisions exist. House edge is fixed and typically 2-15%.
Video Poker: You receive cards. You choose which to discard. The computer deals replacement cards. Outcomes depend on your decisions. House edge can be 0.5-6% depending on skill level and game variant.
This difference is everything. In slots, luck is everything. In video poker, skill matters profoundly.
The Game Flow
Here’s how video poker works:
- Bet: You place a wager (typically 1-5 coins)
- Deal: You receive five cards from a standard 52-card deck
- Decide: You choose which cards to hold and which to discard
- Draw: The computer deals replacement cards for your discards
- Evaluate: Your final hand is evaluated against a pay table
- Payout: If your hand qualifies, you’re paid according to the table
The critical moment is step 3—your decision about which cards to keep.
Hand Rankings (Highest to Lowest)
Understanding poker hand rankings is essential:
Royal Flush: A, K, Q, J, 10 all of the same suit. Rarest and highest-paying.
Straight Flush: Five consecutive cards of the same suit (e.g., 9♠ 8♠ 7♠ 6♠ 5♠).
Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank (e.g., K♣ K♦ K♠ K♥ 3).
Full House: Three of a kind plus a pair (e.g., Q♠ Q♦ Q♣ 7♥ 7♠).
Flush: Five cards of the same suit (not consecutive).
Straight: Five consecutive cards (not all the same suit).
Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same rank.
Two Pair: Two separate pairs.
Jacks or Better: A pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Aces. (Pairs of Tens or lower don’t qualify in Jacks or Better.)
No Pair: The lowest hand—doesn’t qualify for payment.
Jacks or Better—The Fundamental Game
Why Jacks or Better?
Jacks or Better is the foundational video poker variant. Nearly all other variants derive from this game. Understanding Jacks or Better deeply means understanding video poker fundamentals.
Here’s the standard Jacks or Better pay table (per coin wagered):
| Hand | 1 Coin | 2 Coins | 3 Coins | 4 Coins | 5 Coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 50 | 75 | 100 | 125 |
| Full House | 9 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 45 |
| Flush | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 30 |
| Straight | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Critical Observation: Notice the Royal Flush payment jumps dramatically on 5 coins (4000 vs. 1000). This is intentional and creates powerful incentive to always bet 5 coins.
The Math Behind Coin Multipliers
Look at the table more carefully. When you bet 1 coin, a Royal Flush pays 250. When you bet 5 coins, it pays 4000—not 1250 (5 × 250) but 4000 (a significant bonus).
This bonus is the casino’s way of rewarding max bettors. Always bet 5 coins on Jacks or Better. Betting less than 5 coins is mathematically suboptimal.
Why This Pay Table Matters
The pay table determines RTP (Return to Player percentage). A “full-pay” Jacks or Better table (shown above) with optimal strategy yields approximately 99.54% RTP—meaning you lose roughly 0.46% of your wagers over time.
The same game with a slightly different pay table (9-6 instead of 9-6, or 6-5 instead of 9-6) might yield only 98% or 97% RTP. Casino tables vary. Always look for full-pay tables before playing.
Basic Strategy for Jacks or Better
The Strategy Principle
Video poker strategy is based on mathematical probability. For any hand dealt, there’s an optimal action that maximizes expected value.
Expected Value (EV): The average result you’d achieve making this decision across many hands.
Strategy means always making the decision with the highest expected value.
Strategy Hierarchy (What to Do With Each Hand)
When you receive your first five cards, you evaluate them in a specific hierarchy:
Rank 1: Already Have a Paying Hand If your first five cards contain a complete hand that qualifies for payment (pair of Jacks or better, straight, flush, etc.), you keep that hand and discard nothing. Why? Because discarding risks breaking up a guaranteed payout for the possibility of hitting something better. Usually, the guaranteed payout is better probability.
Rank 2: Three of a Kind or Better If you have three of a kind, you keep it. Attempting to improve usually fails, and you’d break up your guaranteed payout. Discard the two cards.
Rank 3: Flush or Straight If you have a complete flush or straight, keep it. Discarding risks breaking it up.
Rank 4: Four to a Royal Flush This is where strategy gets interesting. Four cards that could become a Royal Flush (e.g., A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠) should be held. The probability of hitting a Royal Flush (4 cards remaining out of 47 unseen cards that complete it) justifies holding and discarding one card.
Rank 5: Three to a Royal Flush Three cards toward a Royal (e.g., A♠ K♠ Q♠) can be held, depending on what else you have. Usually, you’d discard the other two cards.
Rank 6: Four to a Straight (Including Inside Straights) If you have four consecutive cards, you’re close to a straight. You can hold these.
Rank 7: Pair of Jacks or Better A pair of face cards or Aces qualifies for payment and should be held.
Rank 8: Four to a Flush Four cards of the same suit should be held—one more of that suit makes a flush.
Rank 9: Pair of Tens or Lower Pairs below Jacks don’t qualify for payment in Jacks or Better. Usually, you discard these to try for something better.
Rank 10: Three to a Straight Flush Three cards that could become a straight flush (e.g., 7♠ 6♠ 5♠) are held.
Simple Strategy Decision Tree
Step 1: Do you have a paying hand already? (Pair of Jacks or better, or better)
- Yes → Keep all five cards
- No → Go to Step 2
Step 2: Do you have three of a kind or four of a kind?
- Yes → Keep the three/four, discard the others
- No → Go to Step 3
Step 3: Do you have a four-card royal flush?
- Yes → Keep it, discard one card
- No → Go to Step 4
Step 4: Do you have a four-card straight or flush?
- Yes → Keep it, discard the others
- No → Go to Step 5
Step 5: Do you have a pair of Jacks or higher?
- Yes → Keep the pair, discard the others
- No → Go to Step 6
Step 6: Do you have three cards to a royal or straight flush?
- Yes → Keep them, discard the others
- No → Go to Step 7
Step 7: Do you have a pair of Tens or lower?
- Yes → Usually discard to draw completely new cards
- No → Discard randomly; draw completely new cards
This simplified decision tree covers maybe 80% of situations correctly. Full strategy is more nuanced, but this foundation is strong.
Advanced Strategy and Optimal Decision Tables
The Full Hierarchy for Advanced Players
Beyond the basic tree, advanced strategy considers subtle distinctions:
Three to a Straight Flush vs. Four to a Flush: Three to a Straight Flush (e.g., 7♠ 6♠ 5♠) has higher expected value than Four to a Flush (e.g., A♥ K♥ Q♥ 5♥). Why? Straight Flushes pay more than Flushes.
Four to an Inside Straight vs. Four to an Outside Straight: Four to an outside straight (e.g., 9-8-7-6, needing a 5 or 10) has higher probability than four to an inside straight (e.g., 9-8-6-5, needing a 7). Outside straights should be prioritized.
Discarding One High Card vs. Keeping It: Should you keep K♠ with four to a non-royal flush in other suits? Usually, discarding the King for a fifth flush card has better expected value. The additional card completing a flush has better probability.
Three High Cards to a Royal: A♠ K♠ Q♠ is three to a royal. But the expected value of holding this versus drawing completely depends on what other cards are in your hand.
Optimal Strategy Table (Simplified)
Here’s a decision table for common situations:
| Situation | Action | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Pair of Jacks or better | Keep pair | Guaranteed payout |
| Four to a Royal | Keep four | ~4% chance of Royal |
| Three to a Royal + low kicker | Keep three to royal | Royal value huge |
| Four to a Flush | Keep four | ~20% chance of flush |
| Three to a Straight Flush | Keep three | Straight flush pays well |
| Four to a Straight (outside) | Keep four | ~20% chance of straight |
| Pair of Tens or lower | Usually discard | Unlikely to improve pair |
| Ace or King alone | Discard | No value in single card |
| Two high cards to a royal | Keep both | ~10% chance of making hand |
Why This Matters Mathematically
Each decision has an expected value. Over thousands of hands:
- Holding a four to a royal: +EV decision (expected to gain value)
- Holding a single Ace hoping to pair: -EV decision (expected to lose value)
- Discarding a pair of Tens to draw completely new: +EV (better than keeping low pair)
Strategy is making consistent +EV decisions. Deviating from strategy toward intuition or hope makes -EV decisions, reducing long-term results.
Calculating RTP and Understanding Variance
What is RTP?
RTP (Return to Player) is the percentage of all money wagered that a game returns to players over a very long period.
If a Jacks or Better game has 99.54% RTP with optimal strategy:
- You wager $1000
- You expect to receive $995.40 back
- Your expected loss is $4.60
This is over thousands of hands. Any individual session might win or lose significantly.
Calculating RTP for Video Poker
RTP calculation involves:
- Identifying all possible five-card hands from a 52-card deck
- For each hand, calculating optimal play (using strategy tables)
- Determining the payout for each optimal outcome
- Calculating expected value across all hands
The formula:
RTP = (Total Expected Payouts) ÷ (Total Wagers) × 100%
For a full calculation with Jacks or Better:
The probability of getting a Royal Flush on your next hand: 4/2,598,960 ≈ 0.000154%
Expected payout for 5-coin royal: 4000 coins
Contribution to RTP from royals: (4,000 coins × 0.000154%) ÷ 5 coins wagered
Repeat this for every possible hand, sum the contributions, and you get RTP.
Why This Calculation Matters
A “full-pay” Jacks or Better is 99.54% RTP. A “9-6” Jacks or Better (slightly lower payouts) is 98.39% RTP. A “8-5” version is 97.30% RTP.
Over 1000 hands at $1.25 per hand ($6.25 per 5-coin hand):
- Full-pay: Expected loss = $1,000 × 0.0046 = $4.60
- 8-5 version: Expected loss = $1,000 × 0.0273 = $27.30
Same game, different pay table, dramatically different expected loss. Always verify the pay table before playing.
Understanding Variance
Variance is how much results fluctuate around the expected value.
Video poker variance is measured in “coin units per hand.”
Jacks or Better variance: approximately 1.45 (in units per hand, squared).
This means in any given session:
- You might be lucky and win
- You might be unlucky and lose
- Over thousands of hands, results converge toward RTP
Standard Deviation:
If your average loss is $4.60 per 1000 hands, but your standard deviation is $50, you could reasonably expect:
- One standard deviation up/down: Loss ranges from -$4.60 – $50 = $54.60 loss to -$4.60 + $50 = $45.40 win
- Two standard deviations: Range of -$104.60 to $95.40
This explains why even optimal-play players experience significant losing sessions. Variance is real.
Volatility Across Game Types
Low Variance: Games with frequent small payouts. Jacks or Better is medium variance.
High Variance: Games with rare large payouts (Deuces Wild, Double Bonus Poker). Swings are bigger.
This variance should influence your bankroll:
- Medium variance game: 300-500 times your average bet as bankroll
- High variance game: 500-1000 times your average bet as bankroll
With a $1.25 per-hand game (5 coins at $0.25 per coin):
- Medium variance: $400-625 bankroll recommended
- High variance: $625-1250 bankroll recommended
Beginner Mistakes in Video Poker
Mistake 1: Playing Below Maximum Coins
“I’ll play 1 coin instead of 5 to make my money last longer.”
The Royal Flush bonus of 5-coin betting means you sacrifice massive expected value by betting less. Full-pay Jacks or Better at 1 coin: ~95% RTP. At 5 coins: ~99.54% RTP.
Playing 1 coin is like paying a 4.54% additional tax.
Fix: Always bet 5 coins, or play lower denomination machines if budgeting.
Mistake 2: Intuitive Decisions Instead of Strategy
“I’ll keep this 10 and King together, hoping for another high card” (instead of discarding both for completely new cards).
Intuition in video poker is usually wrong. Probabilities are counterintuitive. A single K or A alone should be discarded (unless part of a four-card hand). Keeping two unrelated cards wastes your draw opportunity.
Fix: Learn and follow strategy tables. Write them down. Reference them during play.
Mistake 3: Misunderstanding Hand Rankings
Keeping a 4-card straight when you should keep a 4-card flush. Discarding an Ace to chase a three-to-a-straight. Not understanding which hands beat which.
Fix: Memorize poker hand rankings. Play free online poker first to internalize rankings.
Mistake 4: Playing Poor Pay Tables
Many casinos offer Jacks or Better with reduced payouts (8-5 instead of 9-6). The difference is ~1% RTP.
Playing a poor pay table for convenience is expensive. If other casinos nearby offer better tables, travel the extra distance.
Fix: Research local/online casinos’ pay tables before playing. Choose best-pay games.
Mistake 5: Chasing Losses With Higher Bets
Lost $200 on video poker? Increasing bet size hoping to “get it back quickly” is gambling addiction behavior.
Higher bets don’t improve odds. They just increase the rate you lose money if things go wrong.
Fix: Maintain consistent bet sizing. If you’ve lost your session bankroll, stop. Never increase bets to chase losses.
Mistake 6: Not Tracking Sessions
You don’t know if you’re winning or losing over time. Maybe you’ve won twice and think you’re doing great. Maybe you’ve played 100 hours and lost consistently.
Without tracking, you can’t identify if strategy is working or if variance has favored you.
Fix: Track every session: hands played, win/loss, outcome. Over 1000+ hands, patterns emerge.
Mistake 7: Misunderstanding What Skill Does
“I can beat video poker consistently through skill alone.”
Skill doesn’t eliminate house edge—it minimizes it. Even perfect strategy in Jacks or Better has ~0.46% RTP. You’re still expected to lose money long-term.
What skill does: Ensures you lose money at the best rate possible. Unskilled play loses 2-3x faster.
Fix: Understand skill reduces losses, not eliminates them. Play for entertainment, not income.
Mistake 8: Not Considering Variance Enough
You have $200. You try to play Deuces Wild (high variance) with optimal strategy. You get unlucky and lose it all after 200 hands.
You felt you were playing “right” but got destroyed by variance. Did you have enough bankroll for high-variance play?
Fix: Understand variance. Ensure adequate bankroll for game volatility. Accept that short-term results vary wildly from expected value.
Advanced Strategies for Experienced Players
Advanced Decision: Holding Hands With Risk
A key advanced strategy decision: When to hold a completing hand vs. trying to improve it.
Scenario: You have A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 2♥
Your hand:
- If you keep all five: You have A-K-Q-J high, no pair. This doesn’t pay anything.
- If you discard the 2 and draw one card: You could hit the royal (10♠ completes it) or nothing.
Should you draw to the four-card royal or discard the entire hand?
Advanced Answer: Always draw to the four-card royal. The expected value of a ~0.2% chance at a 4000-coin payout beats holding nothing.
The key: Advanced players recognize situations where drawing to potential hands beats settling for nothing.
Advanced Decision: Evaluating Competing Opportunities
Scenario: You have 9♠ 8♠ 7♠ 6♠ 3♥
Your hand:
- Four to a flush (all spades): 4-card flush draw
- Four to a straight (9-8-7-6): 4-card straight draw
What’s better? The flush or the straight?
Advanced Answer: The flush. A flush pays more (typically 6 coins vs. 4 coins). Hold four to a flush over four to a straight when they compete.
Advanced Decision: Three to a Flush vs. Three to a Straight
Comparing competing three-card draws is where advanced strategy shines.
Scenario: You have K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♦ 9♥
Your hand:
- Three to a royal flush (K-Q-J of spades)
- Four to a straight (K-Q-J-10): Actually, you have 4-card straight
This one’s obvious: hold the 4-card straight over 3-card royal (royal is part of 4-card hand anyway).
But what if: 7♠ 6♠ 5♠ 10♦ 9♥
- Three to a straight flush (7-6-5 of spades)
- Three to a straight (7-6-5)
Hold the three to a straight flush. Straight flushes pay much more than regular straights. The flush component of the straight flush is worth the investment.
Pro Tip: Memorizing Nuances
Experienced players create mental shortcuts:
- “Four to a royal beats everything else unless I already have a made hand paying money”
- “Four to a flush beats four to a straight”
- “Pair of Jacks+ beats three to a royal”
- “Discard unpaired hands below Jacks unless they have high potential”
These shortcuts aren’t the entire strategy but cover 90% of situations. In the 10% of edge cases, full strategy tables provide answers.
Bankroll Management for Advanced Players
Advanced players understand variance means:
- Minimum Bankroll: 300 times your bet size minimum (prevents losing entire session bankroll to variance)
- Comfortable Bankroll: 500-1000 times your bet size (allows riding out bad streaks without depleting funds)
- Session Loss Limit: Stop after losing 10-15% of your bankroll in a session. Variance happens; know when to stop.
A $1.25-per-hand player should have $1,500-$3,750 bankroll ideally. This allows proper variance handling.
The Advanced Concept: +EV Situations
Beyond the basic strategy, advanced players seek situations with positive expected value.
Example: Many casinos offer promotions like “Get 10% cash back on your video poker play this Friday.”
Normally, Jacks or Better with optimal play is -0.46% (losing game).
With 10% cash back: -0.46% + 10% = +9.54% (winning game).
A +EV promotion means skilled players can profit. These situations arise occasionally and represent genuine money-making opportunities.
Advanced players actively hunt for these +EV promotions.
Why Video Poker Is Mathematically Superior to Alternatives
Video Poker vs. Slot Machines
Slots: House edge 2-15%, completely fixed. No decisions. No skill.
Video Poker (Jacks or Better, optimal play): House edge ~0.46%, affected by your decisions.
The Math:
- Play $1000 in slots: Expected loss $20-150
- Play $1000 in video poker: Expected loss $4.60
Video poker loses 4-33x slower than typical slots, depending on slot machine.
Video Poker vs. Table Games
Blackjack (basic strategy): ~0.6% house edge
Video Poker (Jacks or Better, optimal play): ~0.46% house edge
Video poker slightly beats basic strategy blackjack. Plus:
- You play alone (no social pressure)
- You set your own pace
- You don’t need dealer approval or table seat
- You can practice endlessly at home before risking money
Video Poker vs. Roulette
Roulette: House edge ~2.7% (American) or 1.35% (European)
Video Poker: ~0.46%
Video poker is 4-6x better than roulette.
Video Poker vs. Craps
Craps (pass/don’t pass line): ~1.4% house edge
Video Poker: ~0.46%
Video poker beats craps by 3x.
Video Poker vs. Baccarat
Baccarat: ~1.06% house edge
Video Poker: ~0.46%
Video poker beats baccarat 2x.
Why Video Poker Wins
The mathematical advantage of video poker comes from:
- Low House Edge by Design: Video poker has inherently lower house advantage than most games
- Skill Reduction: Unlike other games where skill doesn’t reduce house edge, video poker skill directly improves results
- Optimal Strategy Exists: We know mathematically optimal decisions. Perfect strategy achieves near-optimal RTP
- Better Payout Structure: Payouts are tiered reasonably. Unlike slots with hit-or-miss payouts, poker rewards hand improvement
No other common casino game combines these factors.
The Professional Advantage
Professional video poker players exploit this advantage through:
- Playing only full-pay machines (best RTP versions)
- Perfect strategy execution (0.46% loss, not 2-3% loss)
- Bankroll management (weathering variance)
- Seeking +EV promotions (converting negative games to positive games)
- Volume play (letting small edges compound over thousands of hands)
A professional playing perfectly in +EV situations can achieve positive ROI.
Other Video Poker Variants and Their Strategies
Deuces Wild
In Deuces Wild, all 2s (deuces) are wild cards—they can substitute for any card.
This changes strategy dramatically:
- Different Hand Rankings: Five of a kind (four deuces + anything) exists here
- Different Pay Table: Four deuces pay differently than regular four of a kind
- Higher Variance: More extreme swings due to wild cards
Basic strategy shift: Keep deuces aggressively. A deuce is worth holding even alone because it’s wild.
RTP: Full-pay Deuces Wild ~98.9% with optimal strategy
Bonus Poker
Bonus Poker increases payouts for four of a kind but differentiates based on which cards:
- Four Aces: 400 coins
- Four 2-4s: 200 coins
- Four 5-K: 125 coins
Strategy: Knowing which fours pay best changes decisions.
RTP: Full-pay Bonus Poker ~99.2%
Double Bonus Poker
Even more differentiation for four of a kind. Much higher variance.
RTP: ~99.1% (but with higher variance than regular Jacks or Better)
Tens or Better
Like Jacks or Better but pays for pair of Tens or higher (instead of Jacks or higher).
Lower minimum hand = different strategy.
RTP: ~98.9%
The Strategy Principle Across Variants
Across all variants, the principle remains: Maximize expected value on every decision.
Each variant has its own optimal strategy based on its pay table. Strategy tables for each variant are available online.
Practical Implementation
Where to Find Video Poker
Online Casinos: Most major online casinos offer video poker. Play for free first to learn.
Land-Based Casinos: Nearly every casino has video poker machines. Look for full-pay tables (usually found in higher-limit areas).
Home Practice: Free video poker games online let you practice without risking money.
Apps: Many apps offer free video poker. Use these to internalize strategy before real-money play.
Learning Strategy Progressively
Phase 1 (Hour 1): Learn hand rankings. Play free games. Get comfortable identifying pairs, straights, flushes.
Phase 2 (Hours 2-5): Learn the basic strategy decision tree. Play free games, referencing the tree. Make optimal decisions deliberately.
Phase 3 (Hours 5-20): Practice until strategy becomes intuitive. You should make decisions quickly without constant reference.
Phase 4 (Hours 20+): Play real money cautiously with proper bankroll. Track sessions.
Creating Your Personal Strategy Reference
Print or write down:
- Hand rankings (highest to lowest)
- The decision tree for basic strategy
- The pay table for your specific game
- Your session limits (max loss, session duration)
Reference these during play until they’re internalized.
Bankroll Progression
Start small. Don’t jump to $1.25 per hand immediately:
- Week 1: Play $0.05-$0.25 per hand with $50 bankroll
- Week 2-3: Increase to $0.25-$0.50 per hand if comfortable
- Month 2: Increase to $1.00 per hand with $500 bankroll
- Ongoing: Only increase when bankroll has grown sufficiently
Bankroll progression prevents catastrophic losses while you’re learning.
Conclusion
Video poker is unique in the casino world. It’s a game where:
- Skill matters: Your decisions directly impact results
- House edge is minimizing: 0.46% optimal play vs. 2-15% for most games
- Mathematics is favorable: No other common casino game offers better odds
- Profitability is possible: With skill and discipline, some players achieve +EV
- Learning is accessible: Strategy can be learned systematically over time
This guide has provided the mathematical foundation, strategy framework, and practical implementation guidance for video poker success.
But here’s the final reality: Even with perfect strategy, you’re playing a negative expected value game (unless you find +EV promotions). Video poker is best approached as entertainment with better odds than alternatives, not as an income source.
