Video Poker Glossary
Every term you will meet on the glass and in the strategy chart, defined in plain language.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Full pay | The best publicly available pay table for a game, e.g. 9/6 Jacks or Better. |
| Short pay | A trimmed pay table that lowers the return without changing the hand rankings. |
| Expected value (EV) | The average coins a given hold returns per coin bet, computed across every possible draw. |
| Hold | The cards you keep before the draw. The one decision that determines your return. |
| Draw | Replacing the cards you did not hold with new cards from the same deck. |
| Royal flush | A-K-Q-J-10 all in one suit; the top hand, paying 4,000 on a five-coin max bet. |
| Four to a royal | Four of the five cards needed for a royal flush — a high-value draw worth breaking made hands for. |
| Quads | Four of a kind. Bonus games pay far more for these, especially four aces. |
| Kicker | An extra unpaired card held with a pair; usually a mistake in Jacks or Better. |
| Variance | How much results swing around the average. High-variance games hit big hands rarely. |
| Max coins | Betting five coins, required to unlock the royal flush bonus and full return. |
| Return | The long-run percentage of money paid back with perfect play; 100% minus the house edge. |