How to Play Video Poker
Video poker is five-card draw poker against a pay table, not against other players. It is a game of skill: your hold decisions decide your return, and the best machines pay back over 99% with correct play.
A hand, step by step
- Bet. Choose one to five coins. Always bet five — the maximum — because the royal flush pays a big bonus only on the fifth coin.
- Deal. You get five cards from a standard 52-card deck.
- Hold. Decide which cards to keep. You can hold all five, some, or none.
- Draw. The cards you did not hold are replaced from the same deck.
- Get paid. If your final hand is a paying hand, the pay table pays you.
That single decision — which cards to hold — is the entire game. There is a mathematically best hold for every dealt hand, and that is what strategy tells you.
What counts as a paying hand
In the most common game, Jacks or Better, the lowest paying hand is a pair of jacks. Anything from a pair of jacks up through the royal flush pays; a lower pair or a busted hand pays nothing. Here is the full ranking with 9/6 Jacks or Better payouts per coin.
| Hand | What it is | Per coin |
|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | A-K-Q-J-10, all one suit | 800 |
| Straight flush | Five in sequence, one suit | 50 |
| Four of a kind | Four of the same rank | 25 |
| Full house | Three of a kind plus a pair | 9 |
| Flush | Five of one suit, any order | 6 |
| Straight | Five in sequence, mixed suits | 4 |
| Three of a kind | Three of the same rank | 3 |
| Two pair | Two different pairs | 2 |
| Jacks or better | A pair of J, Q, K, or A | 1 |
The order of hands never changes, but how much each pays depends on the game and pay table. Bonus games pay far more for four of a kind in exchange for smaller payouts elsewhere.
Why always bet max coins
The royal flush pays 250 per coin on one to four coins, then jumps to 800 per coin, 4,000 total, on the fifth coin. Betting fewer than five coins throws away that bonus and drops your return by about 1.5%. If five coins is too much for your bankroll, drop to a lower denomination and still bet five coins.
Why video poker rewards skill
Unlike slots, video poker shows you the pay table and gives you a real decision. Good full-pay games like 9/6 Jacks or Better return 99.54% with perfect play, among the lowest house edges in the casino. But that return assumes you play every hand correctly — which is exactly what the trainer builds.
Common questions
Why always bet five coins?
The royal flush pays 250 per coin on one through four coins, then jumps to 800 per coin — 4,000 total — on the fifth. Betting fewer than five throws that bonus away and drops your return by about 1.5%. If max is too much, drop to a lower denomination and still bet five.
What is the lowest paying hand?
In Jacks or Better, a pair of jacks. Anything from a pair of jacks up through the royal flush pays; a lower pair or a busted hand pays nothing.
Is video poker skill or luck?
Both, but the skill part is large and fully knowable. The deal is random, but which cards you hold is a real decision with a single mathematically best answer, and that decision is the entire game.