Video poker is a single-player draw poker game against a fixed paytable. You get five cards, choose which to keep, draw replacements once, and are paid according to the final hand. Unlike pokies, the deck is a simulated 52-card (or 53-card) deck, so the return is fully determined by the paytable and by your decisions. That makes video poker one of the few casino games where you can calculate the exact RTP before you bet.

How a Hand Works

1. Choose a coin value and number of coins (usually 1 to 5). Online games often show this as a single stake.
2. Press Deal. Five cards are dealt from a freshly shuffled deck.
3. Mark the cards you want to Hold. Any card not held is discarded.
4. Press Draw. Discarded cards are replaced from the same deck, so a card you discarded cannot come back on the draw.
5. The final five cards are compared with the paytable. Wins are paid at the multiples shown.

Each hand uses a new shuffle. Previous hands have no effect on the next deal, and there is no “due” royal flush.

Reading the Paytable

The paytable is the game. Two machines both labelled “Jacks or Better” can have different returns because one pays 9 coins for a full house and 6 for a flush (called 9/6), while the other pays 8 and 5 (8/5). The full-house and flush lines are the quickest way to identify the version.

Jacks or Better version	Full house	Flush	RTP with optimal play
9/6 (full pay)	9	6	99.54%
8/5	8	5	97.30%
7/5	7	5	96.15%
6/5	6	5	95.00%

The difference between 9/6 and 6/5 is 4.54 percentage points of RTP. On A$1,000 of total bets that is an expected cost of A$4.60 versus A$50, from two numbers on the screen.

The royal flush and the max-coin bonus

Land-based machines traditionally pay 250 per coin for a royal flush with 1 to 4 coins, and 800 per coin (4,000 coins) with 5 coins. The published RTPs assume the 800-per-coin royal. If you play fewer than max coins on such a game, the return drops by about 1.2 percentage points in 9/6 Jacks or Better (to roughly 98.4%). Many online versions pay 800x at every stake; check the paytable to see which applies.

Main Video Poker Variants

The figures below are long-run returns with optimal strategy on the most common full-pay paytables. Lower paytables of the same game are common online and in casinos.

Variant	Minimum paying hand	Wild cards	Full-pay paytable	RTP with optimal play
Jacks or Better	Pair of jacks	None	9/6	99.54%
Bonus Poker	Pair of jacks	None	8/5	99.17%
Double Bonus	Pair of jacks	None	10/7	100.17%
Double Double Bonus	Pair of jacks	None	9/6	98.98%
Deuces Wild	Three of a kind	Four 2s	Full pay	100.76%
Not So Ugly Deuces	Three of a kind	Four 2s	NSUD	99.73%

Returns above 100% exist only with optimal strategy, and casinos offering them tend to exclude video poker from bonuses and loyalty rewards. In practice, small strategy mistakes reduce the return by 0.5 to 2 percentage points.

How the bonus variants differ

Bonus, Double Bonus and Double Double Bonus pay more for certain four-of-a-kind hands (for example four aces) and pay less for two pair (1 coin instead of 2 in Double Bonus and Double Double Bonus). This moves value from frequent hands to rare ones, so the variance is higher than in Jacks or Better. With the same RTP, a bankroll lasts fewer hands on average.

Volatility and Bankroll

In 9/6 Jacks or Better about 54.5% of final hands pay nothing, about 21.5% return the stake (high pair), and the royal flush arrives roughly once every 40,391 hands. Around 2% of the theoretical return comes from royal flushes. If you play 500 hands per session, most sessions end without a royal, so the realised return in a single session is usually below the theoretical figure.

A practical guide for sizing: with 5-coin bets on Jacks or Better, a bankroll of 200 to 300 bets covers normal swings for a session of a few hundred hands. Higher-variance variants such as Double Double Bonus need more. See bankroll management for how to set session limits.

Basic Strategy Principles

Each variant has its own optimal strategy, but several rules hold across most non-wild games:

• Never discard a made straight, flush, full house or better, except to draw to a royal flush from four cards (for example, break a flush holding A-K-Q-J of hearts).
• Keep a high pair (jacks or better) over four to a flush or an outside straight.
• Keep a low pair over unsuited high cards.
• Hold three to a royal flush over four to a flush in Jacks or Better.
• Never keep a kicker with a pair. Holding a pair plus an ace reduces your chance of making trips or two pair.
• Do not hold five random cards for “insurance”. Drawing five new cards is correct when you have nothing worth keeping.

Full hold-by-hold tables are on our Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild pages.

Video Poker Online: What to Check

1. Open the paytable or help screen and note the full-house and flush payouts (and for Deuces Wild, the four-of-a-kind and five-of-a-kind lines).
2. Check the royal flush payout at your stake. If it rises only at max bet, play max coins or choose a smaller coin value.
3. Look for a stated RTP in the help file. Most providers publish one; it should match the paytable figures above.
4. Check bonus terms. Video poker often counts 0% to 10% towards wagering requirements, and some casinos prohibit it while a bonus is active.
5. Use the demo to test your strategy before staking money. Our guide to demo play explains its limits.

Video poker titles online come mostly from providers such as Games Global (Microgaming), Betsoft and Habanero. Casinos with those studios in their lobby include Cosmobet and DegenCity; check the game list for the specific variant before depositing.

Video Poker vs Pokies

Factor	Video poker	Pokies
RTP disclosure	Calculable from the paytable	Set by the provider; you must trust the stated figure
Typical RTP	95% to 99.5%+ with correct play	Usually 94% to 97% online
Player decisions	Yes, every hand	No (except bet size and features)
Variance	Low to medium	Low to very high
Bonus wagering	Often 0% to 10% contribution	Usually 100%

The table shows why many players who prefer predictable maths choose video poker. It is still a negative-expectation game on almost every paytable, and the house edge applies to every hand you play. For the general concept, see our explanation of the house edge. Other poker games are listed in the casino poker guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Video poker carries a house edge on almost every paytable. Play only if you are 18 or older, and contact Gambling Help Online on 1800 858 858 if gambling is causing problems.