Video Poker Basics

Video poker is a slot machine style game similar to five card stud.  It is a very fast game with several different variations like Deuces Wild, Jacks or Better, and Joker Poker.  Each version has slightly different rules, payouts, and strategies.  Most machines allow a player to play from one to five units per hand (1x-5x).  Typically the maximum payouts are associated with the maximum number of coins.  This is important because in order to bring the odds into the best light 5x should be played on every hand.

What this means is that players should decide what is a comfortable unit bet and find a machine to match.  If $5 per hand were the desired level of play the player should be playing on a $1 machine with $5 played on every hand, thereby taking advantage of the best odds while at the same time staying within a predetermined spending limit.

Payouts for each poker hand are labeled right on the front of the machine and they are significantly different for every variation.  It is important to pay close attention if switching between machines with different payouts because a winning hand in one game may not pay off in another.  As well, the actual payouts will not necessarily correspond to the true odds of any given card combination.  Another important thing to note is that variation also exists from table to table on the same game.  Be sure to play tables that are FULL PAY.

This is a table showing the payouts on a FULL PAY Jacks or Better Video poker machine:

Combination of cards

The table below lists the best possible combination of cards to hold, in decreasing order, when playing FULL PAY Jacks or Better. Start at the top and go down the list until you find the first description that matches your hand. Keep these cards and discard the rest. Perfect (not one single deviation from the chart) play on a FULL PAY Jacks or Better machine yields 99.5% long-term payout.  When using this chart remember that a Straight with only one rank of card needed to complete the straight is referred to as an “inside straight” or “1 gap”.

• Royal flush
• Straight flush
• 4 of a kind
• 4-card royal flush
• Full house
• Flush
• 3 of a kind
• Straight
• 4-card straight flush
• 2 pair
• Pair of Jacks or Better
• 3-card royal flush
• 4-card flush
• K,Q,J,10 (different suits)
• Pair of 10s or less
• Q,J,10,9 (different suits)
• J,10,9,8 (different suits)
• Q,J,9 (same suit)
• Q,10,9 (same suit)
• 4-card open straight (no high cards)
• 3-card inside straight flush (2 gaps, 2 high cards)
• 3-card inside straight flush (1 gap, 1 high card)
• 3-card open straight flush (no high cards)
• A,K,Q,J (different suits)
• 2-card royal flush (2 high cards)
• 4-card inside straight (1 gap, 3 high cards)
• 3-card inside straight flush (2 gaps, 1 high card)
• 3-card inside straight flush (1 gap, no high cards)
• K, Q, J (different suits)
• 2 high cards (different suits, if 3 high cards discard Ace)
• 2-card royal flush (10 and no Ace)
• 1 high card
• 3-card inside straight flush (2 gaps, no high cards)
• Nothing (discard all 5 cards)

Good luck!