How To Play

You are dealt five cards from a 52-card deck. Choose which to hold and which to discard; the machine replaces the discards. Final hand is paid according to a posted paytable. Jacks or Better is the most common variant - a pair of jacks is the minimum winning hand.

House Edge

The paytable is everything. A full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better machine (9 coins for full house, 6 for flush) returns 99.54% with perfect play - a house edge of just 0.46%. The common 8/5 version drops to 97.3% (2.7% edge), and 7/5 falls to 96.1%. Always read the paytable before sitting down.

Common Variants

• 9/6 Jacks or Better: 99.54%
• Deuces Wild (full pay): 100.76% (player edge)
• Double Bonus (10/7): 100.17%
• Bonus Poker (8/5): 99.17%

Basic Strategy

• Always bet max coins (5). The royal flush bonus only triggers on max bet and is the difference between 98% and 99.5% return.
• Never break a made flush or straight to chase a royal unless you are one card away.
• Hold any high pair over a 4-card flush. Hold a 4-card flush over a low pair.
• Discard kickers. Holding an ace alongside a low pair is a costly leak.
• Use a strategy card - they sell for $5 and pay for themselves quickly.

Common Mistakes

Playing 6/5 or 7/5 Jacks because the cabinet looks the same as 9/6. Holding a single high card over a 4-card straight draw. Chasing inside straights without high-card backup. Playing less than max coins, which throws away the royal bonus.

Example Hand

You hold J♠ J♦ 4♣ 7♥ Q♠. Correct play: hold both jacks. Discard the queen and the unsuited low cards. The pair guarantees a push and gives you trips/quads/full-house upside.

Bottom Line

Video poker is the closest a casino game gets to a fair fight - but only on full-pay machines with max bet and perfect strategy. Find a 9/6 Jacks bank, learn the chart, and play deliberately. As always, gamble only what you can afford to lose.