Casino Video Poker Strategy

Video Poker is a version of Poker played on a machine, like a slot game. The aim is to get the best possible 5 card poker hand.

1. Casino Video Poker Strategy Game
2. Casino Video Poker Strategy
3. Casino Video Poker Strategy Tactics
4. Video Poker Strategy Cards
5. Casino Video Poker Tips

Video poker entered land-based casinos in the seventies. Today, it is one of the most popular forms of gambling, perfect for those players who are after a game of skill, low house edge, the chance of a large win and the anonymity of playing alone.

If you know the basic poker hands you are halfway to mastering this game that has a higher element of skill than many casino games such as Slots.
The earliest version of Video Poker was known as Draw Poker, featuring a low hand of two pairs.

Reputable casino rooms house an excellent selection of Video Poker titles that usually include 10's or Better, Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, Joker Poker and Double Bonus. Player is dealt five cards in 10's or Better and he gets to choose which cards. The best way to explain the strategy in video poker games is to provide a basic ranking of cards to keep, in order. The way to use the table below is to start at the top. If you have that hand, keep it. If not, move a line down. Keep going until you have a hand to keep or have decided to redraw all your cards. Basic video poker strategy chart.

This changed to a pair of jacks or better which further increased the popularity as more hands were winners. These days there are hundreds of variations of the game, all of which have varying payout tables.

Standard Paytable

Paytables can vary from casino to casino so it is worth doing your research before playing.

Normally, playing 1 to 5 coins tend to have the same returns, but playing the maximum number of coins, thanks to an increased payout for a Royal Flush, is the way to get the highest returns.

Remember, you can always reduce the size of the coin if you don't want to risk playing 5 coins at a higher stake, but it is always advisable to play maximum coins for when that Royal Flush finally comes in.

Below is a version of a standard paytable for a machine which allows you to play 5 coins, such as the popular Jacks or Better.

Video Poker Tips

Tip 1: Of all the hands dealt only 21% are winning hands. It's the truth of video poker. The rest, which is 79%, are losers. The profitable video poker player knows what he must do with 70% of the hands dealt so that it becomes a winner.
Tip 2: Play Maximum Coins. If you bet five coins, all winning hands are paid out by X 5, except for the royal flush. This is a bonus amount designed as an incentive to play five coins. Any player who plays less than maximum coins will contribute to a Royal Flush that will be won by another player. You don't want other players to win at video poker hands that you want to win! So, play for the royal flush.
Tip 3: Before you start playing, be on the lookout for a machine with the most favorable payouts. A machine with 9 / 6 odds will generally hit the royal flush once for every 40,000 hands. The 8 / 5 odds are once for every 45,000 hands etc – So try and play 9 / 6 machines only. Play the 9/6 machine and you increase your odds of success.
Tip 4: Do not rush. Playing faster will not bring any results, except perhaps negative ones. You must take your time (no need to rush anyway). To win, you will have to invest time, and not just money. A player, on the 9 / 6 machine, has odds to 1:40,000 to get a Royal Flush, or equivalent to approximately 40 hours of play. You need to keep playing the machine until you win the royal flush to win at video poker You will finance your play from your bankroll, or by collecting money from the lesser hands until you do win at video poker. Keep in mind to win at video poker you need the royal flush.
Tip 5: We have already mentioned that you need to play maximum coins, but you also need to look at the size of the jackpots on several machines and then play the one that has the biggest paying jackpot.
Tip 6: Each hand is set up by an RNG (Random Number Generator). The moment you start to play, the hand is set in stone. The machine will randomly select all the cards from a 52-card deck and deal them out.
Tip 7: There's no memory. As explained in tip six, the system uses an RNG to set up the hands. The system has no memory. It does not know that you have not had a full house in 400 hands or that you just received three four of a kind hands in a row. It's possible to go 100,000 hands without a four of a kind and it's possible to get ten in a row. The machine does not keep track, because, in the end, the numbers work out.

Video Poker Strategy

Like many casino games, there is no strategy that is set in stone, but given the number of options a Player has due to the number of variations that can be held each game, the skill level is higher than many Casino games.
The below table is in order of cards you should look to hold in order to maximize your returns, therefore start from the top and work your way down until you come across one that relates to your particular hand. This gives you the best possible opportunity to become a winning Player.
For the clarification of terms, a ‘High' pair or card is Jack or better, whilst a ‘Low' pair or card is 10 or lower.

Which Machines To Avoid

1. Avoid the impulse to play any machine. Always check the payouts and go for those with the highest ones.
2. Avoid holding a high card when you have a pair. Unless the high card is part of the pair, discard it as it wastes space in your hand. This is one of the most common mistakes you can make as it can reduce your chances of winning by 5%.
3. To maximize payouts, you should avoid playing less than the maximum number of coins allowed. On a machine that has a maximum bet of three coins, if you play just one or two coins, you are simply priming the machine for other players who play maximum coins. If you need to, drop down a coin level to keep the cost within your budget. The appearance of the Royal Flush (biggest jackpot) is roughly once every 40,000 plays. This is exactly the reason why it is important always to bet the maximum amount, especially on Progressive machines. This ensures you get paid out to the maximum when the Royal Flush does appear.
4. Avoid playing for shorter periods of time. The short game period decreases the odds of hitting the Royal Flush. This hand is the key to winning the big Jackpot. Instead, play for longer periods of time. It takes roughly 40 hours of play on a Video Poker machine to reach 40,000 plays. Keep in mind that the Royal Flush appears once in every 40,000 plays. Playing longer improves your chances of hitting the Royal Flush.
5. Study your hand carefully, especially online. Remember, there is no time limit so consider all your options carefully.

How To Play Video Poker

1. The goal of the game – The aim of the game is to make the best possible 5 card poker hand. In standard games, you get dealt 5 cards and then have to decide which to keep and which to discard. The discarded cards are then replaced giving you your final hand.
2. Setting up the game
a. Set your budget – We would recommend you take a budget of at least 50 bets when playing Video Poker and casino table games.
b. Choose your machine – There are many different versions of Video Poker available online and in land-based casinos, ensure you are clear on which version you are playing. The rules will differ for each in terms of the minimum hand required for a payout and the payout table itself.
c. Decide how much you want to bet – Like most slots, you can adjust the bet size and the number of coins for each game.
d. Decide how much you want to play with – As Video Poker is played on a machine, you can enter coins as you go along in a land-based casino, or top up your balance by depositing if playing online. You can choose the best size and how many times you bet this amount per game (you can normally bet between 1 and 5 coins, so if you pay for $1 per credit, you can choose whether you bet $1 (1 coin) up to $5 (5 coins).
3. Course/progress of the game
a. Once you have decided how much to bet, press the deal button.
b. You will now be dealt 5 cards from a standard deck.
c. Once you have the 5 cards, you will be asked to choose which of these, if any, you keep. You will see a button below each of the cards, pressing this button toggles between holding the card and discarding it. Be aware that the machine often holds some cards for you if, for example, you have a pair or 4 consecutive cards. Although you don't have to go with the cards the machine holds, it is normally advisable to do so.
d. Once you have held your cards, press deal again and the cards you chose not to hold will be replaced by new ones. As the game is played with 1 deck of cards, you will not receive the same cards that you discarded. Some variations of Video Poker include Jokers, these can be used as any card, the Computer will replace it with the card to make the best possible 5 card hand.
e. Most machines allow you to gamble any wins. This is normally purely down to luck such as guessing what color the next card will be to try and double your win or guessing which suit the next card will be and win 4 times your payout. Generally, this should be avoided, just collect your winnings and move on.
f. You will then be paid out according to the paytable and number of coins.
In the screenshot above, you can see:
1. The payouts for each coin/bet level (the minimum for a win in this version is a pair of Jacks). The coin/bet level you have chosen is highlighted; this can be changed before the start of any game.
2. The payout for your specific choice of coin/bet level.
3. The 5 cards you have a button below each allowing you to hold your chosen card/s.
4. The coin/bet level you are currently playing, this can be changed by clicking on the green Bet Level button before the start of a new game.
5. After each game, you can view your payout and bet amount here.
6. The value of each coin you are playing. As the coin value here is £10 and you are playing coin/bet level 5, your total bet for each game is £50 (£10 X 5 coins).
7. The action buttons where you can deal the cards, change the bet level, automatically place the max bet (in this case 5 coins at your chosen coin value) and the gamble button where you can gamble after any win.

Payout Percentages

Casino Video Poker Strategy Game

Variations of Video Poker

There are many different versions of Video Poker, some of the most popular are outlined below.
Aces and Eights
Aces and Eights is a variation which follows the usual card hierarchy but offers higher payouts for four-of-a-kind Aces, Eights and Sevens.
Aces and Faces
Much like Aces and Eights, Aces and Faces offers higher payouts for four-of-a-kind aces and four-of-a-kind in Jacks, Queens, and Kings.
All Aces
Another Aces variation now and this time you will receive a higher payout for having a hand of four-of-a-kind aces.
All American
All American poker is a typical, basic Video Poker game, the only difference being it's American themed in design.
Bonus Poker
There are two variations of Bonus Poker; the first is when the game actually features a bonus round, which, like a Slots game bonus feature is mainly down to luck. The title 'Bonus Poker' also refers to a common variation of Jacks or Better Video Poker, which offers a better payout percentage for four-of-a-kind. 'Bonus poker' usually refers to the Jacks or Better poker, but always check the paytable to know exactly what you are playing.
Deuces and Joker
Deuces and Joker Video Poker is played with a 53 card deck instead of the standard 52 A Joker is added to the pack and used as a 'wild', which means it can substitute itself for any other card in order to make a winning hand.
Deuces Wild
Deuces Wild is a common Video Poker variation in which all 2 cards act as 'wilds'. Just like in online Slots, they can substitute themselves, but in Video Poker they can substitute for any other card in order to make up a winning hand. Therefore, a 5 card hand which features 3 Fives and 1 Two will become a four-of-a-kind, as the Two will have substituted itself for a Five. Therefore, in this version, a new hand of 5 of a kind is possible, which is normally between 4 of a kind and a Straight Flush in the hand rankings. In this game, Two's are known as 'Deuces'.
Double Bonus
Double Bonus Video Poker is a typical variation on Jacks or Better but offers a higher payout return on four-of-a-kind Aces.
Jacks or Better
Jacks or Better is the best-known Video Poker game and for good reason; if using the correct strategy the house edge is reduced to 0%. Jacks or Better is a Video Poker game in which the payout begins if you have just 2 Jacks, 2 Queens, 2 Kings or 2 Aces in your final hand.
Joker Poker
Joker Poker offers higher payouts for a natural Royal Flush and a Joker Royal Flush. In this game, Jokers act as wilds and can substitute themselves for any other card in order to create a winning hand.
Multi-hand
Multi-hand Poker, as the title suggests, is a Video Poker game played with more than one hand. Variations can include up to 100 hands being played at the same time, but usually, you have a choice of 1 to 10 hands. You receive the normal 5 cards in this version, the cards you hold will be held for each of the other hands, with the newly dealt cards being different for each.
SupaJax
SupaJax, like Poker Ride, is a Progressive Video Poker game, but instead of needing a Royal Flush, 4 Jacks and the 'SupaJax' card will earn you the Progressive Jackpot.
Tens or Better
Tens or Better is incredibly similar to Jacks or Better, but instead of needing at least two Jacks to ensure a payout, you only need two Tens.

Video Poker Related Articles:
Deuces Wild Strategy
Play Video Poker for Real

This video poker strategy page and the accompanying section have a single goal—to help you get the best odds when gambling at a casino. Video poker, unlike many casino games, offers you at least some degree of control over the odds. Games like roulette and slot machines have no strategy. The decisions you make are essentially meaningless.

Video poker, on the other hand, resembles blackjack. You can use strategic thinking to improve your chances of winning and decrease the house edge. This shouldn't be too much of a surprise, as both games use a deck of cards to play. Of course, in the case of blackjack, you're usually looking at a real deck of cards. In video poker, you're using a virtual deck that's actually being simulated using a random number generator.

But legitimate video poker games duplicate the odds you'd see if you were using a real deck of cards.

And that's why you can use a strategy to improve your odds. We talk more about that in the next section.

Why Does Video Poker Have a Strategy?

When you're playing a slot machine, you have no idea what the probability of a particular symbol coming up on a particular reel is. That probability is determined by the random number generator.

A random number generator is a computer program that constantly cycles through numbers at the rate of thousands of numbers per second. Each number corresponds to a different stop on the reel in a slot machine game. Or in the case of a video poker game, each number corresponds to a playing card.

But since you don't know anything about the probability of getting a particular symbol on a slot machine game, it's impossible to make any kind of strategic decision.

In fact, even if you DID know the probabilities of getting each symbol on the reel, you still wouldn't be able to make a decision that would affect your outcome.

There are no decisions to be made. You put your money in, your spin the reels, and you accept the outcome.

Several, if not most, casino games are like this. You have no way of affecting the odds no matter how smart you are. The odds of winning a single number bet in roulette are 37 to 1, no matter what kind of strategy you use.

That's why video poker (and blackjack) are different. You DO have the opportunity to make decisions which affect your outcome.

Understanding why requires looking into the math behind the game a little bit.

Expected Return, Payback Percentages & the House Edge

The expected return of a bet, video poker or otherwise, can be calculated if you know the probability of winning and losing. You also need to know how much you stand to win and how much you stand to lose.

You multiply the probability of winning by the amount you're going to win. You multiply the probability of losing by the amount you're going to lose. You add those two numbers together to get your overall expectation.

Suppose we set up a really simple gambling game where you're going to flip a coin. If you guess the correct outcome, you win 25 cents. But if you're wrong, you lose 50 cents.

In this example you have a 50% chance of winning and a 50% chance of losing. 50% of 25 cents is 12.5 cents, which is the first part of your equation. 50% of 50 cents is -25 cents. (It's negative because that's the amount you lose.)

Your expected loss on that bet is 12.5 cents.

You won't lose 12.5 cents every time. That would be impossible.

But if you tallied all your net wins and losses over time, and if you played for a long time, your results would eventually start to conform to the mathematical expectation.

Return is usually measured as a percentage. In this case, 12.5 cents is 50% of the original bet, so your expected return is -50%.

That's an awful bet. Most experienced gamblers wouldn't take it.

But it's an example of how the casino gets its edge in every game in the casino.

This same kind of math can be applied to video poker games and to slot machine games to determine a payback percentage. The payback percentage is just the amount of money you expect to win back from the casino for every $100 you wager over a long period of time.

Keep in mind that in the short run, anything can and often will happen. You can win a big jackpot early in your session, and your results won't look anything like the mathematically expected payback percentage.

But the longer you play, the closer your results will get to the mathematically predicted results. Over an infinite number of trials, you would certainly have results which mirror the mathematical prediction.

The house edge, on the other hand, is the amount of each bet that the house mathematically expects to keep. It's the opposite of the payback percentage.

In the case of a full pay Jacks or Better game, the payback percentage is 99.54%. So the house edge is 0.46%.

That means for every $100 you bet, the casino expects you to win $99.54. They expect to win 46 cents.

Those are long term expectations, though. In the short run, anything can happen.

All of that background is necessary for understanding why video poker strategy matters.

Since you know the odds of being dealt a particular hand, and you know the odds of improving a hand, you can compare your choices in a video poker game to go with the choice that has the better expected return.

You're playing Jacks or Better, and you have 4 cards to a royal flush, but you also have a pair. You could play this hand in a number of ways.

You have a number of options in this example:

• You could throw all 5 cards away and start over. That's obviously the play with the lowest expected value.
• You could throw away all the cards except the pair. In this case, you're hoping to improve your hand to 2 pairs, 3 of a kind, or a full house.
• Or you could throw away the card that makes the pair and try to draw the royal flush.

Since you have a pair, you have a 100% chance of winning at least 1 unit. That's an expected value of $1. But it's actually a little better than that, because you also have the chance to improve the hand. Let's just call it an expected value move of $1.50.

But a royal flush has a payout of 800 to 1. The odds of drawing the card you need for that hand are 1 in 47, but any time you get a 46 to 1 shot at an 800 to 1 payout, you should take it. The expected value of that play is huge.

You have a roughly 2% chance of winning $800. That's $16. You also have a roughly 98% chance of losing $1. That's -98 cents.

$16 – 98 cents = $15.02, which is a heck of a lot more than $1.50.

The correct choice is clear, even though you're going to lose this bet more often than not. On the occasions when you do win, your winnings are going to be so large that they'll make up for all the times you lost the bet and then some.

Not all situations in video poker are that clear. In fact, a human can't just sit there and work out the correct play in every situation using a pencil and paper.

Luckily, we have computers for that.

You can find a video poker strategy chart for just about any variation available. In fact, you can even find websites which will generate the perfect strategy for you based on the game and the pay table that you input.

Here's how such a strategy chart works:

• You get a list of hands.
• At the top of the list is the best possible hand.
• You work your way down the list until you find a hand that matches what you have.
• When you get to that hand, you stop and keep the cards that are listed.

Almost all video poker strategy charts start with a royal flush as the top listed hand. That makes sense. After all, you would never throw away the top paying hand in the game. That would just be silly.

In most games, 4 of a kind and a straight flush will also be at the top of the list—those are usually the top 3 hands with the best payouts.

But the next best hand after that?

You'll always hold on to 4 cards to a royal flush.

That's some strategy advice based on Jacks or Better, but the strategy for Deuces Wild is a little bit different.

For one thing, you'll always look at lists of potential hands based on how many deuces you have. One of the fundamental tenets of Deuces Wild strategy is that you never discard a 2.

Then based on how many deuces you have in your hand, you have a list of potential hands to choose from. Start at the top and work your way down.

Another way of thinking about video poker strategy is to think about potentially conflicting hands.

You have 3 cards to a royal flush, but you also have a pair. Do you keep the pair, or do you go for the royal flush?

In this case, you keep the pair. Your odds of hitting the royal flush go down exponentially when you need 2 cards to complete your hand.

In probability, when you want to know the odds of event A happening AND event B happening at the same time, you multiple the probabilities by each other.

In the event of filling a royal flush, each card has a 1/47 chance of showing up. The odds of getting both cards are 1/47 X 1/47, which is about 1 in 2500. And 800 to 1 payout doesn't warrant that kind of risk, especially if you've got a sure winning in your hand already.

The strategy varies from game to game because the payouts vary from game to game. In Bonus Poker, which is basically just Jacks or Better with a bonus payout for a 4 of a kind, you might be more likely to draw to your 4 of a kind in certain instances.

Casino Video Poker Strategy

In Deuces Wild, the presence of the wild card makes a huge difference to how you play your hands. You need much stronger hands to win, but those wild cards make it easier to get those hands. One of the fundamental tenets of Deuces Wild strategy is to never discard a deuce.

The basics of Jacks or Better strategy are pretty simple.

First check to see if you have one of the following 3 paying hands:

If you have any of those, keep what you've got and collect your winnings.

If you don't have any of those, check to see if you have 4 cards to a royal flush. If you do, keep those 4 cards and try to hit the royal.

4 cards to a royal flush trumps everything except those 3 hands we mentioned above.

If you don't have 4 cards to a royal flush, then look to see if you have any of these other 'made hands':

• Full House
• Flush
• Straight
• 3 of a Kind

If you have any of those, keep it and collect your winnings.

If not, check to see if you have 4 cards to a straight flush. If you do, then draw to that straight flush.

Then check to see if you have one of the following 2 paying hands:

You'll keep those over the other options below.

Once you get to that point, you're looking at speculative hands. Your best speculative hand at this point is 3 cards to a royal flush. It's a long shot, but if you don't already have one of the other hands listed above, that's what you should go for.

Then if you have 4 to a flush, try to fill your flush.

If you have a low pair, try to draw to 3 of a kind or better.

A full strategy chart will have several more hands for you to go through, but you get the idea.

Jacks or Better strategy just isn't that hard. Even though this isn't a complete strategy chart, you're probably only giving up a few tenths of a percent of payback percentage following these guidelines.

Our guide to Jacks or Better video poker covers the correct strategy in more detail.

Content

If you have 4 deuces, you'll keep them.

If you have 3 deuces, you'll keep them. You're hoping for a royal flush.

If you have 2 deuces, you'll keep both of them. You'll hope for a 4 of a kind or better, but if you don't have that, try for a royal flush or a straight flush.

If you only have one deuce, strategy gets a little harder. But it's still just a list to go down:

• 4 of a Kind or better
• 4 to a Royal Flush
• Full House
• 4 to a Straight Flush
• Flush, Straight, or 3 of a Kind
• 3 to a Royal Flush

And so on.

The payback percentages for Deuces Wild games are all over the place. Unlike Jacks or Better, which has an easy to understand system for adjusting the payback percentage, Deuces Wild pay tables can vary quite a bit from one another. Monument valley national park.

Your best bet, when choosing a Deuces Wild game, is to use some kind of online tool to determine the payback percentage for the game with the pay table you're considering.

For a detailed discussion of Deuces Wild strategy, please see our page on Deuces Wild video poker.

The optimal strategy for Bonus Poker, which offers a bonus payout for 4 of a kind hands, is so similar to the optimal strategy for Jacks or Better as to be almost indistinguishable.

If you just used the same strategy, you'd probably be giving up less than 0.2%.

Casino Video Poker Strategy Tactics

It is good to know how to play Bonus Poker, though, because in many of today's casinos, it's the video poker game with the highest payout percentage.

We have an entire page dedicated to Bonus Poker, and it includes detailed strategy advice.

Joker Poker has some similarities to Deuces Wild, but it's not as complicated. You'll only ever see a single joker in the deck, which changes the texture of the possible hands considerably.

You'll basically be presented with 2 basic strategy charts—one to follow if your hand includes a joker, and one to follow if it doesn't. The differences are subtle in some cases, but it's not too complicated.

We offer a full page on Joker Poker, too, which also includes a detailed discussion of the correct strategy for playing that game.

Video poker strategy resembles basic strategy in blackjack in many ways. They both represent the optimal way of playing every possible hand you could get.

Of course, the differences are obvious, too. Your goals in video poker are quite different from your goals in blackjack.

Most video poker strategy is just presented as a list. You start at the top, work your way down, and stop when you get to the hand that matches what you're holding in your hand. Then you keep the appropriate cards and move on.

We offer detailed strategies for almost all of the video poker games on our site on the appropriate pages. Please visit this page for a complete list of all the games we cover.

You may also be interested the following pages. These cover a range of subjects related to video poker strategy.

Video Poker Strategy Cards

Video Poker Strategy Articles

Casino Video Poker Tips

• Video Poker Trainers
• Video Poker for Winner
• Video Poker Bankroll
• Video Poker Books
• Video Poker Cheat Sheets
• Video Poker Calculators
• Video Poker Comps
• Video Poker Double Up Feature
• Video Poker EV (Expected Value)
• Video Poker Hands and Hand Analyzers
• Video Poker House Edge
• Video Poker Lessons
• Video Poker Odds and Probability
• Video Poker Royal Flush Odds & Strategy
• Video Poker Risk of Ruin and Variance
• Video Poker Tutorial
• Bob Dancer: Video Poker Expert
• Jean Scott: The Frugal Gambler