Video poker is one of the few casino games where skill actually matters, and if you’re ignoring it, you’re leaving real money on the table.
I came to video poker late. Spent years feeding slot machines like an idiot before someone at a casino in Brighton pointed me towards a Jacks or Better machine and said “learn this one first.” That was genuinely good advice, and I’m passing it on here. This video poker complete guide covers everything I wish someone had told me early on — the games worth playing, how pay tables work, and the strategy that closes the gap between you and the house.
Why Video Poker Beats Slots (Almost Every Time)
The thing that makes video poker different from slots is transparency. With slots, you have absolutely no idea what the return to player actually is in practice — the casino knows, you don’t. With video poker, the pay table is right there on the screen. If you know how to read it, you can calculate the RTP yourself before you sit down.
A well-played full-pay Jacks or Better game returns about 99.54% over the long run. Compare that to most slots sitting around 92–95%, and you start to see why serious recreational players drift towards the machines with cards on them. You’re still going to lose over time — the house edge doesn’t disappear — but it’s a much slower bleed if you play properly.
The other thing is the skill element. Your decisions genuinely affect the outcome. Hold the wrong cards and you’re throwing away expected value. Hold the right ones and you’re playing as close to optimal as the game allows. That matters to me. I like feeling like my choices mean something.
The Best Video Poker Games to Actually Play
There are dozens of variations out there, and not all of them are worth your time. Here’s what I’d focus on:
Jacks or Better
This is the foundation. It’s the game you learn first, full stop. The standard full-pay version (sometimes called 9/6 Jacks or Better, because of the payouts for a full house and flush) returns 99.54% with optimal play. Most of what you learn here transfers to other variants. If you find a 9/6 machine, that’s a good one. If it’s 8/5 or worse, the RTP drops significantly — we’re talking 97.3% on an 8/5, which is a meaningful difference over time.
Deuces Wild
All four 2s are wild cards, which sounds brilliant and it kind of is — but the pay table is adjusted to compensate. Full-pay Deuces Wild (known as “NSU Deuces Wild”) can return over 100% with perfect play, which is why casinos are very careful about which version they put out. The strategy is quite different from Jacks or Better, so don’t assume your knowledge transfers without homework.
Double Bonus Poker
This one pays extra for four aces and other four-of-a-kind hands. The trade-off is a reduced payout on two pair. Full-pay Double Bonus returns around 99.11% — solid, but the variance is higher because you’re chasing those big four-of-a-kind hands. I’ve had wild sessions on this one. Swings both ways.
Double Double Bonus Poker
Even more aggressive on the bonus hands, particularly four aces with a kicker. Higher potential payouts, more volatile, lower base RTP in most versions you’ll actually find. Worth knowing about, but I’d get comfortable with standard Double Bonus first.
Reading Pay Tables: The Skill Nobody Talks About
This is genuinely where most casual players go wrong, and it’s where this video poker complete guide earns its keep. Two machines can look identical — same game name, same interface — and have completely different RTPs based purely on the pay table.
For Jacks or Better, the numbers to look at are the full house and flush payouts per coin on a five-coin max bet. The full-pay version pays 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush. Hence 9/6. Anything lower than that and you’re playing a worse game. Simple as that.
- 9/6 Jacks or Better — 99.54% RTP. This is what you want.
- 8/6 Jacks or Better — 98.39% RTP. Noticeably worse.
- 8/5 Jacks or Better — 97.30% RTP. Avoid if you can.
- 7/5 Jacks or Better — 96.15% RTP. You’re basically playing slots at this point.
Online casinos in the UK are particularly bad for sneaking in reduced pay tables without making it obvious. I’ve been caught out more than once. Always check the pay table before you start — it takes thirty seconds and it tells you everything you need to know about whether a machine is worth playing.
Video Poker Strategy: The Basics That Actually Help
Optimal video poker strategy involves memorising a ranked list of hand combinations and always holding the highest-ranked option available. There are free strategy cards online for every major game variant — print one out, seriously. Most casinos don’t care if you use one, and online you can just have it open in another tab.
Some basics for Jacks or Better that most people get wrong:
- Never break a paying hand to chase a straight or flush — unless you already have four to a royal flush. The numbers don’t support it otherwise.
- Always keep a high pair over four to a flush — four to a flush sounds exciting but a high pair is already paying you money.
- A low pair beats four to an outside straight — this surprises people but the expected value on a low pair is higher.
- Three to a royal flush beats a made straight or flush — one of the bigger surprises in the strategy chart. The potential payout on the royal is that significant.
- Always play maximum coins — the royal flush payout jumps disproportionately at max bet. On most machines it’s 250 coins per coin bet, except at max bet where it’s 800 per coin. If you’re not betting max, you’re playing a worse game.
These aren’t gut feelings — they’re mathematically calculated based on the probability of each outcome and its associated payout. That’s what makes video poker strategy different from hunches at the blackjack table.
Bankroll Management for Video Poker
Even with a near-1% house edge, variance will bite you. I’ve sat down with £100 on a 9/6 Jacks or Better machine and been down to my last fiver before catching a full house run that pulled me back. That’s just how it goes.
A rough guideline: bring at least 200–250 hands worth of your stake level to any session. If you’re playing £0.25 per hand at max bet (£1.25 per hand), you want £250 to £300 behind you to ride out the variance properly. Playing with less means you might not survive long enough for the maths to work in your sessions.
I play at lower denominations than my bankroll could technically support, because I’d rather play for two hours and lose £40 than blow through £150 in twenty minutes chasing a royal that isn’t coming. Boring advice, but it’s kept me at the machines longer and honestly made the whole thing more enjoyable.
Video Poker Tips for Online Play in the UK
A few things specific to playing online that have caught me out:
- Check the pay table before accepting any bonus — some bonus terms restrict video poker contribution or lock you into worse-paying variants. Read the small print.
- Look for multi-hand options carefully — playing 10 or 50 hands simultaneously massively increases your variance. It’s not better odds, it’s just faster.
- The RNG is certified but the game selection varies wildly — licensed UK casinos use audited random number generators, but that doesn’t mean they all offer the same quality pay tables. Shop around.
- Some sites label games deceptively — “Jacks or Better” might be an 8/5 version dressed up as the full-pay game. Don’t assume. Check.
Honest Conclusion: Is Video Poker Worth Your Time?
If you’re going to gamble — and look, you’re reading this, so you probably are — video poker is one of the most sensible ways to do it recreationally. The house edge on a properly chosen machine with decent strategy is genuinely as low as it gets outside of blackjack, and you don’t have to memorise nearly as much to get close to optimal play.
I’m not going to tell you you’ll win. You probably won’t, long-term. That’s gambling. But this video poker complete guide exists because the difference between a good player and a clueless one is measurable in real pounds over real sessions. Learn the pay tables. Use a strategy card. Manage your bankroll. And if the machine you’re looking at pays 7/5, walk away and find a better one.
That’s genuinely all it takes to play smarter than most people in that casino.
