Video Poker

Video poker is a single-player machine game built around one hand of five-card draw poker: the machine deals five cards, the player chooses which to hold and which to discard, a second deal fills the discarded slots, and the final hand pays out according to a fixed table posted directly on the machine. There’s no dealer, no opponent, and no bluffing — every payout is determined entirely by the final hand and the specific pay table in use.

This page covers how pay tables work, why the same-looking game can carry very different house edges depending on which one is posted, the main variants available, and the optimal-play principle that separates video poker from a standard slot.

How a Pay Table Works

Every video poker machine posts a pay table listing the payout multiplier for each qualifying hand, from a pair of jacks or better up to a royal flush. Two machines running the exact same game — Jacks or Better, for example — can carry meaningfully different house edges purely based on which pay table is posted, since the payout for specific hands (most commonly the full house and flush rows) varies between versions.

This naming convention — “9/6,” “8/5” — refers specifically to the full house and flush payout multipliers, and checking which one is posted before playing matters more in video poker than in almost any other machine game, since the difference between a 9/6 and 6/5 table on otherwise identical Jacks or Better can shift the house edge by a factor of ten.

Why Video Poker Rewards Optimal Play

Every video poker hand has a mathematically optimal hold decision — which of the five dealt cards to keep and which to discard — that maximises expected return under the specific pay table in play. Unlike a slot, where no decision changes the outcome, video poker’s hold/discard choice directly affects long-run return, which is what makes it closer to blackjack than to a standard reel game in terms of skill involved.

The gap between optimal play and a reasonable-looking but suboptimal hold decision typically runs 2% to 5% of return, meaning a player deviating from optimal strategy consistently plays at a noticeably worse edge than the posted pay table’s baseline figure suggests.

Main Video Poker Variants

Jacks or Better

The standard version and the baseline most pay tables are measured against — the minimum qualifying hand is a pair of jacks or higher, with no payout for lower pairs.

Deuces Wild

All four twos act as wild cards, substituting for any other card to complete a hand — this dramatically changes both the hold strategy and the pay table shape, since the minimum qualifying hand is typically raised to three of a kind rather than a pair, to offset how much easier wilds make strong hands.

Joker Poker

Adds a single joker to the deck as a wild card, sitting between standard Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild in terms of how much the wild card shifts hand probabilities and the resulting pay table.

Double Bonus / Bonus Poker

Boosts payouts specifically for four-of-a-kind hands, particularly aces, in exchange for reduced payouts elsewhere on the table (commonly the two-pair or full house rows) — a trade-off that increases variance compared to standard Jacks or Better.

Multi-Hand Video Poker

Multi-hand formats — commonly offered in 3-, 10-, 50-, or 100-hand versions — deal one initial hand, let the player choose holds once, and then play that same hold decision out across all hands simultaneously with independently dealt replacement cards. This doesn’t change the underlying house edge, but it compresses variance differently: a single strong initial hand pays out across every line, while a weak one loses across all of them at once.

Video Poker — FAQ

Is video poker better value than slots?

Often yes, at optimal play on a well-paying table — a 9/6 Jacks or Better machine carries a house edge under 0.5%, lower than the large majority of slot titles, though this only holds if the hold/discard decisions are made correctly on every hand.

What does “9/6” mean on a Jacks or Better machine?

It refers to the payout multipliers for a full house (9x) and a flush (6x) specifically — these two rows vary the most between pay table versions and are the quickest way to judge a machine’s value before playing.

Do I need to memorise a full strategy chart to play well?

Not to play reasonably, but closing the gap to fully optimal play — typically worth 2% to 5% of return — does require following a strategy chart specific to the pay table and variant in use, since generic “always hold high cards” instincts leave value on the table.

Why do wild-card variants like Deuces Wild have different pay tables?

Wild cards make strong hands significantly more common, so the pay table raises the minimum qualifying hand and adjusts payout multipliers to bring the house edge back to a comparable level to non-wild variants.

Does multi-hand video poker change the house edge?

No — the underlying house edge per hand stays the same as the single-hand version of the same game and pay table; multi-hand formats change variance and the pace of play, not the long-run edge.

Can the same game name have very different house edges?

Yes, and this is the single most important thing to check in video poker — “Jacks or Better” alone doesn’t specify the pay table, and the difference between a 9/6 and a 6/5 version of the same-named game can multiply the house edge by ten times or more.