Video Poker strategy

Video Poker can be an excellent game in terms of low house edge. You can even find games that if you use the correct gaming strategy the edge will be in the players favour, so that you will win more than you lose in the long. Meaning a beatable casino game woohoo! But machines with rules this good are very rare. However machines with really good rules that still have a house advantage are pretty common.

The complexity of Video Poker strategies is very big because you need an exact strategy card for each type of Video Poker game and that strategy will only be correct for the paytable the casino choose to use for that particular game, making it a difficult task to master this game.

What is full pay?

Full pay is term that tells you the value of the paytable. A machine with full pay Jacks or Better would have a 99.54 %( meaning only a .46% house edge) payback with optimal strategy and a paytable like this.

Full pay (9/6) = Full House pays 9 coins and a Flush pays 6 coins on a 1 coin winning bet.

Jacks or Better Full pay ( 9/6 )
Coins Played	1	2	3	4	5
Player Hand	Payout Table
Royal Flush	250	500	750	1000	4000
Straight Flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a Kind	25	50	75	100	125
Full House	9	18	27	36	45
Flush	6	12	18	24	30
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of a Kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two Pair	2	4	6	8	10
Jacks or Better	1	2	3	4	5

Jacks or Better Strategy Card

To use the below strategy, start at the top of the list and look up the cards that best describe your initial hand. Try to Keep a hand that is as high as possible on the list, and then discard the cards that are not in the description.

# Initial Hand
1. Full House or better
2. 4 to a Royal Flush
3. Straight, Three of a Kind, or Flush
4. 4 to a Straight Flush
5. Two pair
6. High pair
7. 3 to a Royal Flush
8. 4 to a Flush
9. Low pair
10. 4 to an outside Straight
11. 2 suited high cards
12. 3 to a straight flush
13. Any 2 high cards
14. Suited 10,J or 10,Q or 10,K
15. One card jack or higher
16. Crap - Keep nothing (kick the machine)

Jacks or Better terms

Outside Straight - The straight consists of four consecutive cards with no gaps. For example 4, 5, 6, 7 + another card. Twice as good as an inside straight because both the 3 and 8 will complete the straight.
Inside straight - An example of an inside straight would be 4,5,7,8 + another card. Only half as good as an outside straight because only one card can complete the straight.
High Pair - Pair of jacks or better.
Low Pair - Pair of tens and lower.
High card - Jack or higher