Video poker is a simple game to play, but a difficult one to master. To begin, players select their preferred game variant, choose their coin denominations and select deal.

Five cards are dealt at random and you then get to choose whether or not you wish to change any of these cards. In this way video poker is like 5 card draw. You are allowed to change any number, all or none of your cards.

Once the new cards have been dealt to you, or you have elected to keep your original cards, the computer will determine the value of your hand and payout accordingly.

Jacks or Better Video Poker

Jacks or Better video poker has the following payout table:

• Royal Flush: 250 to 1
• Straight Flush: 50 to 1
• Four of a Kind: 25 to 1
• Full House: 9 to 1
• Flush: 6 to 1
• Straight: 4 to 1
• Three of a Kind: 3 to 1
• Two Pair: 2 to 1
• Pair of Jacks or Better: Even money

When playing Jacks or Better, any hand less than a pair of Jacks is a losing hand. As with slot games, when playing with maximum credits, there are often better rewards available. In video poker, maximum credits allows a Royal Flush to pay up to 800-1 instead of the usual 250-1.

Deuces Wild Video Poker

Deuces Wild video poker is a variant in which all deuces are wild (i.e. can substitute for any other card in the deck). With Deuces Wild, it is theoretically possible to get a return of 100.76% on a full pay back machine  - so with perfect strategic play, you can actually make a profit in the long run. This is in contrast to Jacks or Better which has a maximum payback of 99.5% if played to perfect strategy.

The payouts in Deuces Wild also start off with 3 of a kind instead of a pair of Jacks in Jacks or Better. Four deuces also gives a mini-jackpot payout. 4 of a kinds are quite common in Deuces Wild due to the wild card and make up about one third of all payouts.

Typical payout table for Deuces Wild:

• Natural Royal Flush: 300 to 1
• Four Deuces: 200 to 1
• Wild Royal Flush: 25 to 1
• Five of a Kind: 15 to 1
• Straight Flush: 9 to 1
• Four of a Kind: 5 to 1
• Full House: 3 to 1
• Flush: 2 to 1
• Straight: 2 to 1
• Three of a Kind: 1 to 1

Bonus Poker Video Poker

Bonus Poker is based on Jacks or Better but includes a bonus payout for 4 Aces at 160 to 1. The theoretical payoff for this variant is up to 100.17% on the full pay version of Double Bonus Poker, making it a good option to choose if you play to perfect strategy.

Video Poker Overview

Video Poker Strategy