What video poker is
Video poker is played on a screen with a single 52 card deck that is shuffled before every hand. There are no other players and no dealer to beat, and there is no bluffing. The result depends only on the cards you get and on which ones you decide to keep.
The payout does not depend on anyone else's hand but on the paytable: every poker hand has a value known in advance. That makes video poker a casino game in which your decisions really change the result.
Video poker rules step by step
- Set your stake. You choose how many virtual credits you play on the hand.
- Deal. The machine deals you five cards face up.
- Hold. Mark the cards you want to keep. You can hold all five, none or any number in between.
- Draw. The unmarked cards are replaced with new cards from the same deck. You draw only once.
- Payout. Your final five card hand is checked against the paytable. If it is listed, you get your stake times the payout for that hand; if not, the stake is lost.
What Jacks or Better means
The name tells you the lowest paying hand: a pair of jacks. A pair of queens, kings or aces pays as well. A pair of tens or any lower pair pays nothing, even though it is a real hand in ordinary poker.
Above the high pair the table follows the usual poker order: two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush and royal flush. An ace can be the highest card in a straight from 10 to ace or the lowest in a straight from ace to five.
The video poker paytable
This is the paytable in our Jacks or Better game. The payout shows how many credits you get for every credit staked, the stake included.
| Hand | Payout per 1 credit | With a 10 credit stake |
|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 250 | 2,500 |
| Straight flush | 50 | 500 |
| Four of a kind | 25 | 250 |
| Full house | 9 | 90 |
| Flush | 6 | 60 |
| Straight | 4 | 40 |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 30 |
| Two pair | 2 | 20 |
| Jacks or better | 1 | 10 |
A pair of jacks or better only returns your stake, so the hand ends with no win and no loss. A real win starts at two pair.
Why it is called a 9/6 paytable
Jacks or Better versions differ almost only in what the full house and the flush pay, so a paytable is named by those two numbers. Our game pays 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush, the so called full pay 9/6 table. Weaker tables are common too, such as 8/5, where a full house pays 8 and a flush 5.
With a 9/6 table and perfect play the return to player is about 99.54 percent, but only when a royal flush pays 800 for 1 at the maximum stake. In our game a royal flush pays 250 for 1 at every stake, so the return is somewhat lower, roughly 98 percent. With an 8/5 table the return drops to about 97.3 percent.
Which cards to hold
Choosing what to hold is the only skill in video poker. These rules apply to a 9/6 table:
- A made hand from a straight up: hold all five cards. The one exception is four cards to a royal flush, for which you break a straight or a flush.
- Three of a kind: hold the three and draw two.
- Two pair: hold both pairs and draw one.
- A high pair, jacks to aces: hold only the pair and draw three. Do not keep an extra high card as a kicker.
- Four cards of one suit: hold them unless you have a high pair, even when you have a low pair.
- A low pair: better to hold it than four cards to an open ended straight.
- None of the above: hold one or two high cards, jack to ace. If you have none, draw all five.
How often good hands come
With good play a royal flush comes on average about once every 40,000 hands. So even though it pays the most, it makes up a small part of the total return. Most of the payouts come from high pairs, two pair and three of a kind, which come often.
Every hand is independent. The deck is shuffled before each new hand, so a run of bad hands does not mean a good one is due. No betting system changes the return to player; it only changes how fast credits are used up or collected.
Video poker on this site
On besplatnikazino.com you play Jacks or Better with virtual credits only. There are no deposits, prizes or payouts, and the credits have no value outside the game. It is a calm place to practise holding cards and to see how the paytable works in practice. The site is meant for people over 18, and if gambling for money is becoming a problem for you, see the page on gambling and responsible play for where to get help.
Common questions
How do you play video poker?
You set a stake, get five cards, mark the ones you hold and replace the rest once. The final hand is paid according to the paytable, and if the hand is not on the table, the stake is lost.
What does Jacks or Better mean?
It means a pair of jacks or any better hand pays. A pair of queens, kings or aces also pays, while a pair of tens or lower pays nothing.
Does a pair of jacks win anything?
A pair of jacks or better pays 1 for 1, which means it only returns your stake. The hand ends with no win and no loss, and a real win starts at two pair.
What does 9/6 Jacks or Better mean?
The numbers are the payouts for a full house and a flush: 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush per credit staked. That is the full pay table, and weaker versions such as 8/5 have a lower return to player.
Is there a strategy in video poker?
Yes, because you choose which cards to hold, and the right choice in every hand lowers the house edge. Strategy still cannot remove the house edge or predict which cards come next.