Free Video Poker / How to play video poker
How to play video poker
Video poker is five-card draw against a pay table. You bet, you get five cards, you keep the ones you want, you draw replacements for the rest, and the machine pays you for the hand you end up with. There is no dealer and no other players.
One hand, step by step
- Bet. Press BET ONE to add a credit (1 to 5) or BET MAX to bet five at once. Five credits is the bet to make: the royal flush pays 800 for 1 at five credits and only 250 for 1 at fewer.
- Deal. Five cards come out face up from a freshly shuffled 52-card deck.
- Hold. Tap each card you want to keep. HELD appears on it. Tap again to let it go. You can hold all five, none, or anything in between.
- Draw. Press DRAW. Every card you did not hold is replaced from the same deck.
- Get paid. The machine reads your final five cards and pays whatever the pay table says. A pair of jacks or better returns your bet, two pair pays double, and so on up to the royal flush.
The pay table is the game
The glass at the top lists every paying hand and what it pays for each bet size. That table is the whole game: it tells you the odds you are getting and the right way to play. The best Jacks or Better table pays 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush, which players call 9/6. How to read a pay table.
Which hands pay
In Jacks or Better, the lowest paying hand is a pair of jacks, queens, kings or aces. A pair of tens or lower pays nothing. Above that: two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush and royal flush. All the hands, ranked.
What makes it different from slots
Your choices matter. Two people dealt the same five cards can end the hand with very different results depending on what they hold. That is why video poker has a strategy, and why a good player loses far less than a slot player over time. Video poker strategy.
The three common games
- Jacks or Better: the original. Simple pay table, lowest swings. Learn this one first.
- Deuces Wild: all four 2s are wild. Pays start at three of a kind and the hands get bigger.
- Double Double Bonus: four aces with a small kicker pays 400 for 1. Big swings, big hits.
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Questions
Do I have to bet five credits?
No, but you should when you can. The royal flush pays 800 for 1 at five credits and only 250 for 1 at one to four credits. Betting less than max gives up most of the royal's value.
Can I hold all five cards?
Yes. If you are dealt a paying hand, hold everything and press DRAW to collect. If you are dealt a royal flush, hold all five.
Do the cards I throw away come back?
No. The draw comes from the 47 cards left in the deck after your five were dealt. A card you discard is gone for that hand.
Is video poker the same as poker?
No. There is no bluffing, no betting rounds and no opponent. You are paid by a fixed table for the hand you make, like a slot machine with decisions.
More: Video poker strategy · Jacks or Better · Deuces Wild · Double Double Bonus · Video poker pay tables · Video poker odds · Video poker hands, ranked · Video poker trainer · How to win at video poker