How to Read a Video Poker Pay Table
Two machines can run the same game and pay back wildly different amounts. The pay table on the glass tells you which — and learning to read it is the single most profitable habit in video poker.
Short answer
Games are named by two payouts: the full house and the flush. On Jacks or Better, "9/6" (9 for a full house, 6 for a flush) is the full-pay table you want at 99.54%. Anything lower — 8/5, 7/5, 6/5 — is the same game paying you less for the same play.
What the shorthand means
In Jacks or Better the key numbers are the full house and flush: 9/6 means 9 per coin for a full house and 6 for a flush. Those two numbers move the return more than any other, so players use them as shorthand for the whole table.
Jacks or Better pay tables and returns
| Table | Full house | Flush | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9/6 Jacks or BetterFull pay. The one to find. | 9 | 6 | 99.54% |
| 9/5 Jacks or BetterCommon short pay. | 9 | 5 | 98.45% |
| 8/5 Jacks or BetterThe double cut. | 8 | 5 | 97.30% |
| 7/5 Jacks or BetterAvoid. | 7 | 5 | 96.15% |
| 6/5 Jacks or BetterAvoid. | 6 | 5 | 95.00% |
Same game, same strategy, but a 6/5 machine returns about four and a half percent less than a 9/6 machine. Over a session that is real money. Always find the full-pay table.
Full pay vs short pay
A full-pay table is the best publicly available version of a game. A short-pay table trims the mid-tier payouts to lower the return. The hand rankings never change; only the payouts do. Because strategy barely shifts between them, a short-pay machine is simply a worse deal for the same effort.
Reading bonus games
Bonus and Double Bonus games pay more for four of a kind and less elsewhere, so their key numbers differ — but the idea holds: check the full house, flush, and quad payouts against a known full-pay table. The best games page lists full-pay returns for every common game.
Common questions
What do the two numbers in a game name mean?
They are the full-house and flush payouts per coin. "9/6" means 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush — the two payouts that move the return most, so players use them as shorthand for the whole table.
How much does a bad pay table cost?
A lot. Same game, same strategy: a 6/5 Jacks or Better machine returns about 95.00% versus 99.54% on 9/6 — roughly four and a half percent more of every dollar going to the house.
Does strategy change between full-pay and short-pay?
Barely. The hand rankings never change and the hold order shifts only slightly, so a short-pay machine is simply a worse deal for the same effort. Always find the full-pay table.