🎰 Video Poker: the real odds & smartest way to play
YOUR SHOT: BEST
✅ Best bet
Full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better (pays 9-for-1 on a full house, 6-for-1 on a flush) returns 99.54% with perfect play — a 0.46% edge. Some rare full-pay Deuces Wild paytables theoretically return ~100.76% (a tiny player edge), but they're nearly extinct.
🚫 Sucker bet to avoid
An inferior paytable. The SAME-LOOKING machine paying 8/5 or 7/5 Jacks or Better quietly returns ~97% or less. Always read the full-house/flush payouts on the glass before you sit — '9/6' vs '8/5' is the whole ballgame.
How the edge is computed
9/6 Jacks or Better EV is computed analytically over all 2,598,960 five-card deals with optimal holds: expected return ≈ 0.9954 per coin → 0.46% house edge. Drop the full house to 8 and flush to 5 (8/5) and the return falls to roughly 97.3%.
Optimal strategy
Strategy matters enormously and is solved per paytable — there's a correct hold for every dealt hand. AND the paytable matters as much as the play: a great strategy on a bad paytable still loses fast. Play max coins (5) on full-pay machines so the royal flush pays its bonus.
What to expect
Of all the machines on the floor, full-pay video poker with correct strategy is the closest you'll get to break-even gambling. But 'closest to break-even' still means a small grind against you, and most machines on the floor are NOT full-pay.
The 9/6 Jacks or Better paytable
| Hand | Pays (per coin) |
|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 800-for-1 |
| Straight Flush | 50-for-1 |
| Four of a Kind | 25-for-1 |
| Full House | 9-for-1 |
| Flush | 6-for-1 |
| Straight | 4-for-1 |
| Three of a Kind | 3-for-1 |
| Two Pair | 2-for-1 |
| Jacks or Better | 1-for-1 |
Compare other games
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