Video poker: how the pay table sets your return

Video poker is the one casino game that shows you its odds before you bet. In a slot, the return is hidden in the info panel, if it is shown at all. In video poker the pay table is on the screen, and two of its lines tell you almost exactly how much the game returns. This article explains how to read that table, what the common versions of Jacks or Better return, and which decisions you have to get right to receive that return. The rules of poker itself and the hand rankings are on our poker page.

How video poker works

You get five cards, choose which to hold, and the rest are replaced once. The final hand is paid by the pay table.

1. You place your bet, usually in credits (1 to 5).

2. Five cards are dealt from a fresh 52-card deck.

3. You hold any of them - none, some or all - and the others are replaced from the same deck.

4. The final five cards are paid according to the pay table. In Jacks or Better the lowest paying hand is a pair of jacks.

There is no dealer and no opponent. The machine deals from a shuffled deck for every hand, so what happened in the last hand does not affect the next one.

How to read the pay table

The full 9/6 Jacks or Better table, per credit bet:

• Royal flush - 250 (800 per credit when you bet the maximum 5 credits)
• Straight flush - 50
• Four of a kind - 25
• Full house - 9
• Flush - 6
• Straight - 4
• Three of a kind - 3
• Two pair - 2
• Jacks or better - 1

"9/6" means the full house pays 9 and the flush pays 6. Those two lines are where casinos change the game: the rest of the table usually stays the same. So the first thing to read on any Jacks or Better screen is the payout for a full house and a flush.

What one line changes

Returns with perfect play, from Wizard of Odds, and what each version costs on average per €100 bet:

• 9/6 - returns 99.54%: about €0.46 per €100.
• 8/6 - returns 98.39%: about €1.61 per €100.
• 8/5 - returns 97.30%: about €2.70 per €100.
• 7/5 - returns 96.15%: about €3.85 per €100.
• 6/5 - returns 95.00%: about €5.00 per €100.

The machines look identical and the rules are the same; only two numbers on the screen differ. Yet a 6/5 game costs about ten times as much as a 9/6 game. If a casino offers several Jacks or Better versions, the pay table is the only thing to compare.

The royal flush and the maximum bet

The figures above assume you bet the maximum - 5 credits. On a classic machine, the royal flush pays 250 per credit on a smaller bet, but 800 per credit on 5 credits. The royal comes up only about once in 40,000 hands, but that jump is part of the return. If you bet fewer credits, the return falls.

Many online versions let you choose the coin value and the number of credits separately. Check the pay table at the bet size you actually play. If you want a smaller bet, lower the coin value and keep 5 credits.

The return depends on your holds

99.54% is the return of perfect play. Every wrong hold lowers it. A ranked list of hands tells you what to keep. These are the decisions players most often get wrong in 9/6 Jacks or Better, from the Wizard of Odds simple strategy:

• Four to a royal flush beats a made flush or straight. Break the paying hand and draw for the royal.
• A high pair (jacks or better) beats four to a flush. Keep the pair that already pays.
• A low pair beats four to an outside straight. Keep the pair of twos rather than chasing the straight.
• Two suited high cards beat three to a straight flush.
• Never keep a kicker with a pair. Hold the pair alone and draw three.
• Discard everything only when nothing on the list applies.

This simple strategy returns 99.46% on a 9/6 machine - 0.08 points less than perfect play, and close enough for most players. Playing "by feel" usually costs much more.

How it compares with slots and table games

A slot's return is set by its maths, and you cannot see it in the game itself unless the info panel shows it. In video poker you can see it, and your own decisions change it. That makes video poker a game of correct decisions, much like blackjack with a strategy chart. Our article on RTP and volatility explains what a return percentage means and does not mean. If you prefer playing poker against a dealer instead of a machine, our guide to Casino Hold'em shows how that game is priced.

None of this makes a 99.54% game a winning game. Over many hands, the result moves towards a small loss, and over a short session anything can happen in either direction.

Play within your limits

Video poker is fast: hundreds of hands an hour are normal, so even a small edge adds up. Decide on a budget and a time limit before you start. Our guide to responsible gambling tools shows how to set limits in your casino account, and the responsible gambling page lists where to get help. All the casinos we review are on our all casinos page.