Bits & Odds

Video Poker

Video poker is the one machine that rewards decisions: the same hand played two ways has two different expected values. Play one, practise on one, or look up any hand — free, no account, nothing to download.

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A card for every paytable

The whole of optimal play for one machine, on one printable page: 16 Jacks or Better cheat sheets covering all 55 paytables below, free, no email. Each is derived from the same solved table as the analyzer and prints the return it actually achieves — the 9/6 card reaches 99.5429% against 99.5439% for perfect play.

Full Pay cheat sheet25/15/11/4/4/3 cheat sheet40-20-9-6-5 cheat sheet9/6 cheat sheet300/20/12/10/4/4/3 cheat sheet20/12/9/5/3/2 cheat sheet9/6 cheat sheet9/5 cheat sheet25/15/6/4/4/3 cheat sheet20/12/10/4/4/3 cheat sheetColorado cheat sheet25/15/9/4/3/3 cheat sheet25/12/8/4/4/2 cheat sheet9/6 cheat sheet9/6 cheat sheet9/6 cheat sheet

Paytables by expected value

PaytablePayout stringEV at optimal play
Deuces Wild Full Pay 800-200-25-15-9-5-3-2-2-1 100.7620%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 976-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 976-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 100.0000%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 800-90-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 800-90-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 99.9962%
Deuces Wild 25/15/11/4/4/3 800-200-25-15-11-4-4-3-2-1 99.9569%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 940-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 940-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 99.9030%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 900-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 900-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 99.7982%
Deuces Wild Not So Ugly Ducks 800-200-25-16-10-4-4-3-2-1 99.7283%
Jacks or Better 8/5 - paytable 800-50-35-8-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-35-8-5-4-3-2-1 99.6613%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 800-40-20-9-6-5-3-2-1 800-40-20-9-6-5-3-2-1 99.5599%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 800-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 800-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 99.5439%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 800-47.8-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 800-47.8-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 99.5199%
Deuces Wild 300/20/12/10/4/4/3 800-300-20-12-10-4-4-3-2-1 99.5123%
Deuces Wild 25/15/10/4/4/3 800-200-25-15-10-4-4-3-2-1 99.4179%
Jacks or Better 8/6 - paytable 800-50-29-8-6-4-3-2-1 800-50-29-8-6-4-3-2-1 99.3377%
Deuces Wild 25/16/9/4/4/3 800-200-25-16-9-4-4-3-2-1 99.2254%
Deuces Wild 20/12/9/5/3/2 800-200-20-12-9-5-3-2-2-1 98.9378%
Deuces Wild Illinois 800-200-25-15-9-4-4-3-2-1 98.9131%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 500-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 500-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 98.8793%
Jacks or Better 8/6 - paytable 800-50-26-8-6-4-3-2-1 800-50-26-8-6-4-3-2-1 98.6289%
Jacks or Better 9/5 - paytable 800-55-25-9-5-4-3-2-1 800-55-25-9-5-4-3-2-1 98.5038%
Jacks or Better 8/5 - paytable 800-50-30-8-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-30-8-5-4-3-2-1 98.4799%
Jacks or Better 9/5 - paytable 800-50-25-9-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-25-9-5-4-3-2-1 98.4498%
Jacks or Better 8/6 - paytable 800-55-25-8-6-4-3-2-1 800-55-25-8-6-4-3-2-1 98.4473%
Deuces Wild 25/15/8/4/4/3 800-200-25-15-8-4-4-3-2-1 98.4453%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 250-55-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 250-55-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 98.4264%
Jacks or Better 8/6 - paytable 800-50-25-8-6-4-3-2-1 800-50-25-8-6-4-3-2-1 98.3927%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 250-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 250-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 98.3735%
Deuces Wild 20/15/9/4/4/3 800-200-20-15-9-4-4-3-2-1 97.9716%
Deuces Wild 25/15/6/4/4/3 800-200-25-15-6-4-4-3-2-1 97.6386%
Deuces Wild 20/12/10/4/4/3 800-200-20-12-10-4-4-3-2-1 97.5791%
Jacks or Better 6/5 - paytable 800-50-35-6-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-35-6-5-4-3-2-1 97.3586%
Jacks or Better 8/5 - paytable 800-55-25-8-5-4-3-2-1 800-55-25-8-5-4-3-2-1 97.3525%
Jacks or Better 8/5 Bovada - paytable 800-50-25-8-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-25-8-5-4-3-2-1 97.2984%
Deuces Wild 20/12/9/4/4/3 800-200-20-12-9-4-4-3-2-1 97.0554%
Deuces Wild Colorado 800-200-25-16-13-4-3-2-2-1 96.7651%
Deuces Wild 20/11/9/4/4/3 800-200-20-11-9-4-4-3-2-1 96.7537%
Deuces Wild 25/15/9/4/3/3 800-200-25-15-9-4-3-3-2-1 96.3433%
Jacks or Better 7/5 - paytable 800-50-25-7-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-25-7-5-4-3-2-1 96.1472%
Deuces Wild 25/12/9/4/4/2 800-200-25-12-9-4-4-2-2-1 96.0127%
Deuces Wild 20/10/8/4/4/3 800-200-20-10-8-4-4-3-2-1 95.9638%
Deuces Wild 25/12/8/4/4/2 800-200-25-12-8-4-4-2-2-1 95.5856%
Jacks or Better 6/5 - paytable 1000-50-25-6-5-4-3-2-1 1000-50-25-6-5-4-3-2-1 95.5116%
Jacks or Better 7/5 - paytable 1000-50-20-7-5-4-3-2-1 1000-50-20-7-5-4-3-2-1 95.4828%
Deuces Wild 25/12/7/4/4/2 800-200-25-12-7-4-4-2-2-1 95.1944%
Jacks or Better 6/5 - paytable 800-50-25-6-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-25-6-5-4-3-2-1 94.9961%
Deuces Wild 25/10/8/4/4/2 800-200-25-10-8-4-4-2-2-1 94.9716%
Jacks or Better 7/5 - paytable 800-50-20-7-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-20-7-5-4-3-2-1 94.9661%
Deuces Wild 25/15/10/4/3/2 800-200-25-15-10-4-3-2-2-1 94.8182%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 1000-125-30-9-6-4-2-2-1 1000-125-30-9-6-4-2-2-1 94.7760%
Deuces Wild 25/10/7/4/4/2 800-200-25-10-7-4-4-2-2-1 94.5765%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 1000-100-30-9-6-4-2-2-1 1000-100-30-9-6-4-2-2-1 94.4355%
Deuces Wild 20/10/8/4/3/3 800-200-20-10-8-4-3-3-2-1 93.3699%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 500-100-30-9-6-4-2-2-1 500-100-30-9-6-4-2-2-1 93.2047%
Deuces Wild 20/10/8/4/3/2 800-200-20-10-8-4-3-2-2-1 91.4200%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 800-50-25-9-6-4-3-1-1 800-50-25-9-6-4-3-1-1 86.7072%

The spread between the best and worst paytable here is 14.05 percentage points of every dollar wagered. On a machine you play for an hour that is the difference between a cheap evening and an expensive one, and it is printed on the glass before you sit down.

What a simple strategy gives up

Nobody plays perfectly; people play off a printed card. We implemented every published Jacks or Better card we could cite and priced each one exactly, over all 2,598,960 deals — what each strategy really returns, and the four rules that account for most of what a simple card costs you.

Strategy articles