Video poker sits in a category of its own at online casinos. It uses poker hand rankings and a five-card draw structure, but there are no other players, no bluffing, and no community cards. You are dealt five cards, choose which to hold, draw replacements, and get paid based on your final hand. The return to player figures are among the highest of any casino game - the best video poker variants return over 99% with correct strategy, and some full-pay machines exceed 100% under perfect play.
How Video Poker Works
Every video poker game follows the same basic format. You place your bet, receive five cards from a virtual 52-card deck (or 53 in joker variants), and select which cards to hold. The held cards stay; the rest are replaced by new draws from the remaining deck. Your final five-card hand is evaluated against a fixed pay table, and you are paid out accordingly.
Unlike poker against other players, video poker has no community cards and no opponents. The only variable is which cards you hold - and there is a mathematically correct answer for every possible starting hand. That is what separates video poker from slots: skill has a direct, measurable impact on your return.
The pay table is fixed before you start. You can read it in full, calculate the return to player for any hand combination, and make decisions accordingly. No other casino game offers that level of transparency about what you are actually getting paid.
Video Poker Variants
Jacks or Better
Jacks or Better is the original and most widely available variant. It uses a standard 52-card deck with no wild cards. The minimum winning hand is a pair of Jacks - anything lower pays nothing. On a full-pay 9/6 machine (paying 9 coins for a full house and 6 for a flush per coin wagered), the RTP reaches 99.54% with optimal strategy. The name refers to the pay table code: always look for the 9/6 version. An 8/5 machine looks identical on the surface but returns only around 97.3% - a gap that compounds significantly over time.
Deuces Wild
Deuces Wild changes the entire structure of video poker by making all four 2s wild cards. This means pairs do not pay - the minimum qualifying hand is three of a kind - but the achievable RTPs are exceptional. The full-pay version returns 100.76% under perfect play, meaning the expected value is actually positive for skilled players. The trade-off is higher volatility: long runs without a qualifying hand are offset by the frequency of wild cards producing three of a kind or better.
Double Bonus Poker
Double Bonus Poker keeps the Jacks or Better structure but restructures four-of-a-kind payouts. Four aces pay 160 coins per coin wagered (versus the standard 25 coins). Four 2s, 3s or 4s pay 80 coins. Four 5s through kings pay 50 coins. To fund those inflated payouts, the two-pair return drops to 1:1 (even money), down from 2:1 in standard Jacks or Better. The full-pay 10/7 version returns approximately 100.17% with optimal strategy.
All American
All American is a Jacks or Better variant with a distinctive pay table twist: straights, flushes, and straight flushes all pay at higher rates than standard Jacks or Better, while the full house and four-of-a-kind payouts are reduced to compensate. The full-pay version returns approximately 100.72% under optimal strategy. Because straights and flushes pay more, the correct strategy shifts - you draw more aggressively toward straight and flush draws than in standard Jacks or Better.
Joker Wild
Joker Wild adds a single joker to the 53-card deck, acting as a wild card for any hand. The minimum qualifying hand is a pair of Kings or better (not Jacks), because the wild card makes lower pairs too easy to hit. The joker's presence significantly changes strategy: whenever you hold a joker, the correct decision shifts toward using it to complete the highest achievable hand rather than drawing to speculative combinations. Full-pay Joker Wild returns around 100.64% with correct strategy.
Oasis Poker
Oasis Poker introduces a dealer hand into the game. After your initial five cards are dealt, you can exchange cards from your hand for a fee before deciding whether to raise or fold against the dealer. The added decision point and the dealer-versus-player structure make it closer to casino table poker than standard video poker variants, with an RTP of around 99.27%.
Reading the Pay Table
The pay table is the most important piece of information on any video poker machine. It tells you exactly what each hand pays, and from that you can calculate - or look up - the exact return to player for that specific machine.
The standard Jacks or Better hand ranking, from lowest to highest, runs: pair of Jacks or better, two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush, royal flush. The royal flush - ten, jack, queen, king, ace of the same suit - is the top hand on almost every variant.
One number to watch across all video poker games: the royal flush payout at maximum coins. In Jacks or Better, a royal flush pays 250 coins at a one-coin bet, but 800 coins at a five-coin bet. That disproportionate jump is not proportional to stake - at five coins you are getting 160 per coin rather than 250. The difference accounts for roughly 2% of total return. Always play maximum coins in video poker.
Video Poker Strategy
Every video poker variant has a mathematically optimal strategy - a ranking of hold decisions by expected value that minimises the house edge. Unlike slots, where no decision affects the outcome, video poker rewards correct play with a measurable improvement in return.
For Jacks or Better, the essential hierarchy is: always hold a complete paying hand (pair of Jacks or better, two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house). Never break a made hand unless you have four cards to a royal flush. A high pair beats a four-card flush draw. A low pair (2s through 10s) beats a four-card straight draw.
The strategy differs by variant. In Deuces Wild, the presence of wild cards changes the relative value of almost every hold decision. Three of a kind with a deuce is worth more than most draws; four cards to a royal flush outweigh a completed flush. In Double Bonus Poker, the inflated four-of-a-kind payouts shift you toward drawing more aggressively when you have three of a kind, because the jackpot on four aces is high enough to affect expected value calculations. In All American, the elevated flush payout means a four-card flush draw often beats a low pair - the opposite of standard Jacks or Better strategy.
Strategy cards for all major variants are widely available and legal to use. There is no rule against looking at a strategy chart while you play video poker online.
RTP Comparison Across Variants
The RTPs below assume full-pay machines and optimal strategy:
- Deuces Wild (full-pay): 100.76%
- Joker Wild (full-pay): 100.64%
- All American (full-pay): 100.72%
- Double Bonus Poker (10/7 full-pay): 100.17%
- Jacks or Better (9/6 full-pay): 99.54%
- Oasis Poker Pro Series: 99.27%
These figures drop when the pay table is reduced. An 8/5 Jacks or Better machine returns 97.3%. A short-pay Deuces Wild can fall below 97%. Identifying the full-pay version of any variant is the first strategic decision in video poker.
Video Poker vs Slots
The core difference is that video poker has a provably optimal strategy and transparent pay tables. You can calculate the exact RTP before you play. Slots operate on a random number generator with a pay table that is typically not visible in full, and no decision you make at any point affects the outcome.
Video poker also tends to offer higher RTPs than slot games. A 99.54% return on full-pay Jacks or Better is more than most slots return, which typically range from 94% to 97%. The trade-off is that achieving the published RTP requires learning and applying strategy correctly.
For players who prefer skill-based decisions and transparency about returns, video poker is the stronger option. For players who prefer visual variety and no strategic overhead, slots serve a different purpose.
Video Poker vs Table Poker Games
Several poker-based table games add a dealer hand and additional decision points. TXS Hold'em Pro Series and Triple Pocket Hold'em Gold use Texas Hold'em-style mechanics with community cards and a raise-or-fold decision against the dealer. Casino Hold'em follows a similar format with a progressive side bet option. These games share poker hand rankings with video poker but play more like casino table games than the draw-and-hold format of classic video poker variants. If you are familiar with video poker strategy, the transition to these games is straightforward - the hand rankings are identical, but the decision structure is entirely different.
Where to Play Video Poker Online
The leading NetEnt, Microgaming, Playtech, and IGT portfolios all include multiple video poker variants. Most online casinos carry video poker in their table games section, though the specific variants available depend on which software providers power the casino. Check the games lobby filter for "video poker" or "table games" - Jacks or Better is the most widely available, followed by Deuces Wild and various Bonus Poker versions.
Where to Play Video Poker
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