Online Video Poker Strategy: Paytables, RTP and Optimal Play

Video poker is the closest thing to a fair game on any casino floor or in any online lobby. Certain paytables return over 99.5% with correct play — better than blackjack, dramatically better than slots. But that number collapses the moment you sit at the wrong machine, and most players never look at the paytable before they start.

The essential point: two video poker machines can look identical, play identically, and differ by more than two percentage points in return-to-player based on a single line in the paytable. Reading that line before you deposit is the highest-value 30 seconds in casino gambling.

Why Video Poker Is Different From Slots

On a slot machine, the return-to-player percentage is determined by the game's internal math and is usually not disclosed to the player. You cannot influence it and typically cannot verify it.

Video poker is transparent. The deck is a standard 52 cards, the payouts for each hand are printed on the screen, and the resulting RTP can be calculated exactly. Combined with the fact that your decisions — which cards to hold — genuinely affect the outcome, this makes video poker the only casino game where you can know your exact expected return before you play.

Reading the Paytable: The 9/6 Rule

The classic example is Jacks or Better. The two numbers that define the machine are the payouts for a full house and a flush on a one-coin bet.

• 9/6 Jacks or Better — full house pays 9, flush pays 6. RTP with optimal play: approximately 99.54%.
• 8/5 Jacks or Better — full house pays 8, flush pays 5. RTP: approximately 97.30%.
• 7/5 Jacks or Better — RTP drops to roughly 96.15%.
• 6/5 Jacks or Better — RTP around 95.00%, worse than many slots.

Everything else about these machines is identical. Same graphics, same deck, same strategy. The only difference is two numbers on the paytable, and they represent a 4.5 percentage point swing in your expected return.

The equivalent benchmark in Deuces Wild is the "full-pay" version, which theoretically returns slightly over 100% with perfect play. Full-pay Deuces Wild is extremely rare online, and any version you encounter is almost certainly a reduced paytable — check the four-of-a-kind and five-of-a-kind payouts specifically.

Always Bet Maximum Coins

This is the one rule that admits no exceptions. The royal flush payout on a five-coin bet is disproportionately larger than on a one-coin bet — typically 4,000 coins versus 250 per coin at lower bet levels.

That single jump accounts for roughly 1.5 to 2 percentage points of the machine's total RTP. Playing a 9/6 machine at less than max coins turns a 99.54% game into something closer to 98%, which is worse than playing an 8/5 machine at max coins.

If the max-coin bet is more than you want to risk per hand, the correct response is to move down to a lower-denomination machine at max coins — not to bet fewer coins at a higher denomination.

Core Strategy Principles

Optimal video poker strategy is a lookup table with dozens of entries, but the majority of decisions follow a handful of principles that get you most of the way to optimal:

• Never break a made hand to draw to a better one unless you hold four to a royal flush. Breaking a flush to draw at a royal is correct; breaking a full house is not.
• Four to a flush beats a low pair. The flush draw's expected value exceeds the pair's in Jacks or Better.
• A low pair beats four to an outside straight. Counterintuitive to poker players, but correct — the pair can improve to trips, a full house or quads.
• Never hold a kicker with a pair. Holding an ace alongside a pair of kings reduces your draw and gains nothing.
• Three to a royal beats a made low pair in most Jacks or Better configurations because of the royal's outsized payout.

These rules cover the large majority of hands. The remaining edge cases — and the exact hierarchy for variants like Bonus Poker and Double Double Bonus — require a variant-specific strategy chart, which are widely available and legal to reference while playing online.

Variance Differs Enormously Between Variants

Two machines with similar RTP can produce wildly different session experiences. Jacks or Better is a low-variance game: you hit pairs frequently, sessions grind slowly, and the bankroll swings are modest.

Double Double Bonus has a comparable theoretical return but concentrates a large share of it into rare four-of-a-kind hands with specific kickers. The result is long stretches of losses punctuated by occasional large hits. Neither is better; they suit different bankrolls and temperaments.

The practical implication is bankroll sizing. A high-variance variant needs several times the session bankroll of a low-variance one to survive the same number of hands. This is the same principle that governs bankroll management in poker, applied to a fixed-odds game.

Video Poker Online vs Land-Based

Online video poker has one significant advantage and one significant disadvantage.

The advantage: paytables are visible before you commit, you can play at your own pace, you can reference a strategy chart openly, and low-denomination options are widely available.

The disadvantage: full-pay machines are considerably rarer online than in Las Vegas locals casinos, and video poker frequently contributes at a reduced rate — or not at all — toward bonus wagering requirements. A deposit bonus that excludes video poker is effectively not available to you.

Always read the game contribution table in the promotional terms before claiming a bonus you intend to clear on video poker. Our guide to the best casino bonuses flags which offers have realistic terms for table and video poker players.

Comps and Cashback Matter More Here

When a game returns 99.5%, the remaining half a percent is small enough that loyalty rewards can meaningfully change the arithmetic. A cashback program returning 0.3% of wagering, or a tiered rewards scheme, closes a substantial share of the remaining gap.

This does not make the game profitable — the house edge is still real and comps rarely exceed it — but for a low-edge game played at volume, the reward program is a much larger factor than it would be on a 96% RTP slot.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best video poker game?

9/6 Jacks or Better is the standard benchmark, returning approximately 99.54% with optimal play and max coins. Full-pay Deuces Wild theoretically returns slightly over 100% but is extremely rare, particularly online.

Can you actually beat video poker?

On almost all available paytables, no — the house retains a small edge. Certain rare full-pay machines combined with cashback or promotional value can produce a marginal positive expectation, but these opportunities are scarce and heavily monitored.

Is it legal to use a strategy chart while playing?

Yes. Video poker strategy charts are legal in land-based casinos and freely usable online. Unlike card counting, there is nothing about optimal video poker play that casinos prohibit.

Does video poker count toward casino bonus wagering?

Often at a reduced rate or not at all, because of its low house edge. Always check the game contribution table in the bonus terms before depositing with video poker in mind.

Bottom Line

Video poker rewards preparation more than any other casino game. Find a 9/6 or better paytable, bet max coins every hand, learn the strategy for your specific variant, and you will face one of the smallest house edges available anywhere in the casino.

Ready to compare where the best paytables live? Check our best online casinos rankings and the full casino strategy library.