Atlassino Academy · Video poker · Lesson 2 of 8
Reading the pay table
Two video poker machines can carry the same game and the same royal flush line and still cost different money a hand. Two lines of the pay table say which machine is which.
Two Jacks or Better machines stand side by side, and you would bet the same on either machine. Do 100 hands cost the same on the two machines?
The short answer
Only if the two pay tables match on two lines, Full House and Flush. Every other line on the glass can be the same and the price still differs: on an example bet of $1.25 a hand, 100 hands cost $0.57 on average at a 9/6 machine and $6.25 at a 6/5 machine, with optimal play on every hand.
Three pay tables of the same game side by side, with the Full House line and the Flush line highlighted on each table.
MACHINE ONE
| HAND | 1 COIN | 5 COINS |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 4,000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 125 |
| Full House | 9 | 45 |
| Flush | 6 | 30 |
| Straight | 4 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 10 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 5 |
9/6: returns 99.54% with optimal play.
MACHINE TWO
| HAND | 1 COIN | 5 COINS |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 4,000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 125 |
| Full House | 8 | 40 |
| Flush | 5 | 25 |
| Straight | 4 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 10 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 5 |
8/5: returns 97.30% with optimal play.
MACHINE THREE
| HAND | 1 COIN | 5 COINS |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 4,000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 125 |
| Full House | 6 | 30 |
| Flush | 5 | 25 |
| Straight | 4 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 10 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 5 |
6/5: returns 95.00% with optimal play.
The three machines play the same game, and seven of the nine lines on the three glasses are the same. Only the Full House line and the Flush line change from machine to machine, and the return under each glass changes with those two lines.
Leoformer dealer · rules and maths
On a floor I worked, two video poker machines stood back to back with the same game name on the glass and the same royal flush line at the head of the pay table. People chose between the two machines by the colour of the cabinet. The difference between the two machines sat two lines further down the glass, and that difference was in the price of every hand.
Two lines name the table
A video poker pay table lists every hand that pays, from the royal flush down to a pair of jacks, and what each hand pays for each number of coins in the bet. One column is one coin, the next column is two coins, and so on up to five coins.
The 9/6 table stands line by line in the rules of the online version of Jacks or Better. The 8/5 table stands the same way in the rules of the online version of a game called Video Poker.
| Hand | 1 coin | 2 coins | 3 coins | 4 coins | 5 coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 50 | 75 | 100 | 125 |
| Full House | 9 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 45 |
| Flush | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 30 |
| Straight | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Hand | 1 coin | 2 coins | 3 coins | 4 coins | 5 coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 50 | 75 | 100 | 125 |
| Full House | 8 | 16 | 24 | 32 | 40 |
| Flush | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Straight | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
The two printed tables, line by line; the jump of the royal flush line at five coins is lesson 8.3.
This page names a Jacks or Better table by the two lines that differ, read for one coin, Full House first: the 9/6 table pays 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush, and the 8/5 table pays 8 and 5. The names are this page’s own shorthand, not a word the rules use.
A full house and a flush, the two hands whose lines name the table. Neither hand is rare: the two lines pay on enough hands to move the return of the whole table, and the next section shows by how much.
What each table returns with optimal play
What a table gives back over a very long run is its return, and for a game where your holds matter, the return is worked out with optimal play: on every hand, the hold that gives back the most on average. Any other hold lowers the return, and what a mistake costs is lessons 8.4, 8.5 and 8.7.
| Table | Full House, one coin | Flush, one coin | Returns with optimal play | Where the table is printed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/6 | 9 | 6 | 99.54% | online version |
| 9/5 | 9 | 5 | 98.45% | an example pay table of this lesson |
| 8/6 | 8 | 6 | 98.39% | an example pay table of this lesson |
| 8/5 | 8 | 5 | 97.30% | online version |
| 7/5 | 7 | 5 | 96.15% | an example pay table of this lesson |
| 6/5 | 6 | 5 | 95.00% | an example pay table of this lesson |
The return falls as either line pays less.
The online rules print each of the two returns as a range. The upper end is the five-coin return above; the lower end, at fewer than five coins, is lesson 8.3.
The 9/6 table and the 9/5 table differ in one line, the Flush line, and the return with optimal play differs by 1.09 points.
The 9/5, 8/6, 7/5 and 6/5 tables are example pay tables of this lesson: the printed 9/6 table with two lines changed. No document we could read prints them, and they are not the tables of any room.
What 100 hands cost
Take an example bet of $1.25 a hand, five coins at $0.25 a coin: only an example, not a suggested bet. One hundred hands at that bet put $125 through the machine, and on average the machine keeps the part of that money the table does not return.
Amounts are in Canadian dollars.
Those amounts are averages over a very long run of hands, with optimal play on every hand, and not what an evening costs. Over 100 hands the result swings far wider than the bar, in both directions, and a mistake in the holds adds to the cost on every table.
Where the pay table is, and when to read it
Most casinos offer several kinds of video poker, each with its own rules and bets, and with no other players in the game, all that settles a hand is how the hand scores against the pay table.
On a casino floor the pay table is on the machine itself: printed on the upper part of the machine, shown on the screen, or behind a help, information or pays button. Several of those pages are written about every machine on the floor and do not name video poker; the rule on those pages is the same rule for a video poker machine.
Under the technical standards for casino machines, every award on the pay table and the rules of the game have to be available to you before you commit a bet.
No document we could read prints the pay table of a video poker machine standing on a casino floor, so the glass of the machine in front of you is the only place its own table is written.
On a casino floor the game is sometimes named and nothing more: one operator lists Jacks or Better Poker among the electronic table games at its casinos, and that page prints no pay table.
A minimum is not a return
Under the technical standards for casino machines, every game has to return at least a set minimum in theory over its expected lifetime. That minimum is a floor for every game in the room, not the return of a video poker table and not an average for the room.
Every Jacks or Better table on this page returns more than that minimum with optimal play; where a machine stands above it is written on its own glass.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Before the first bet, decide how much money and how much time the evening gets, while the machine still has no say in either.
A table that returns more still keeps money over an evening. When a session has gone badly, that is the moment for a break, not for a bigger bet: putting more in to get a loss back only buys more hands at the same price.
If it stops being fun
If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. 19+ in most of Canada; 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. More on responsible gaming.
The lesson on one card
That is the lesson. Here it is on one card: print it, or keep it on your phone.
Read the Full House and Flush lines on the machine, for one coin: those two lines name the table.
| Table | Full House, one coin | Flush, one coin | Returns with optimal play |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9/6 | 9 | 6 | 99.54% |
| 9/5 | 9 | 5 | 98.45% |
| 8/6 | 8 | 6 | 98.39% |
| 8/5 | 8 | 5 | 97.30% |
| 7/5 | 7 | 5 | 96.15% |
| 6/5 | 6 | 5 | 95.00% |
19+ (18+ in AB, MB, QC) · Set a limit before you sit down · Play responsibly · the line for your province is at Helplines by province
Practice: three machines in a row
Three machines stand in a row, all playing Jacks or Better, each with its own pay table on the glass. Level 1 asks you to name the table on one of the three machines from its Full House and Flush lines. Level 2 asks at which of the three machines 100 hands at the same bet cost less on average.
Nothing is dealt here. There are no cards and no holds in the practice run, because the decision it trains is made before the first hand: which machine to sit at. Holds are lessons 8.4 and 8.5.
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The practice table needs JavaScript. Here is one row of machines from it, with the answer.
Level 1 · Name the table
FIRST MACHINE
| HAND | 1 COIN | 5 COINS |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 4,000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 125 |
| Full House | 6 | 30 |
| Flush | 5 | 25 |
| Straight | 4 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 10 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 5 |
SECOND MACHINE
| HAND | 1 COIN | 5 COINS |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 4,000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 125 |
| Full House | 7 | 35 |
| Flush | 5 | 25 |
| Straight | 4 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 10 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 5 |
THIRD MACHINE
| HAND | 1 COIN | 5 COINS |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 4,000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 125 |
| Full House | 8 | 40 |
| Flush | 5 | 25 |
| Straight | 4 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 10 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 5 |
Which pay table is on the first machine?
- 5/6 That reads the Flush line before the Full House line. A Jacks or Better table is named Full House first: the first machine pays 6 for a full house and 5 for a flush, for one coin.
- 6/5 The first machine pays 6 for a full house and 5 for a flush, for one coin, so the first machine has the 6/5 table. The second machine in the same row has the 7/5 table.
- 30/25 That reads the five-coin column. A table is named by what one coin is paid, and on the Full House line and the Flush line the five-coin column is the one-coin column multiplied by five.
- 7/5 That is the table on the second machine. The first machine pays 6 for a full house and 5 for a flush, for one coin.
A Jacks or Better table is named by two lines read for one coin: the Full House line first, then the Flush line. On every machine in this row the other seven lines are the same.
Level 2 · Choose the machine
FIRST MACHINE
| HAND | 1 COIN | 5 COINS |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 4,000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 125 |
| Full House | 9 | 45 |
| Flush | 6 | 30 |
| Straight | 4 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 10 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 5 |
SECOND MACHINE
| HAND | 1 COIN | 5 COINS |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 4,000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 125 |
| Full House | 6 | 30 |
| Flush | 5 | 25 |
| Straight | 4 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 10 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 5 |
THIRD MACHINE
| HAND | 1 COIN | 5 COINS |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 4,000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 125 |
| Full House | 7 | 35 |
| Flush | 5 | 25 |
| Straight | 4 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 10 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 5 |
All three machines take the same bet of five coins. At which machine do 100 hands cost less on average, with optimal play?
- The first machine The first machine has the 9/6 table, which returns 99.54% with optimal play. At $1.25 a hand, 100 hands on the first machine cost $0.57 on average.
- The second machine The second machine has the 6/5 table, which returns 95.00% with optimal play. At $1.25 a hand, 100 hands on the second machine cost $6.25 on average. The second machine pays no more than the first machine on the Full House line or on the Flush line, so the second machine cannot return more.
- The third machine The third machine has the 7/5 table, which returns 96.15% with optimal play. At $1.25 a hand, 100 hands on the third machine cost $4.82 on average. The third machine pays no more than the first machine on the Full House line or on the Flush line, so the third machine cannot return more.
Name each table by its Full House and Flush lines. With optimal play on every hand, the table that returns more is the table where 100 hands at the same bet cost less on average.
Every row of machines in the practice run is worked out the same way: each table is named by its Full House and Flush lines, and each return and each price comes from a count over every possible deal with optimal play.
How the practice run works
Where the machines come from. Every row is three of the six tables on this page, in an order chosen from a fixed seed, and every pay, every return and every price is worked out when the page is built, by the same count over every possible deal with optimal play that gives the figures above. The wrong answers on level 1 are named mistakes: the Flush line read before the Full House line, the five-coin column read instead of the one-coin column, and the table of the next machine along. On level 2, the explanation under each machine names that machine’s table, its return and its price.
One strip, and no rounds. Every square on the strip is one row of machines of this lesson, and all of the squares are there from the start. Your first answer fills the square it belongs to; when the squares of one level are full, the next level begins by itself, with no button in between. Practising a row you got wrong turns its cross into “fixed in practice” and does not change the count, because only first answers count.
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Check yourself
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Five quick ones. Pick an answer, then check it. No timer, no points: just whether it stuck.
Back to the question we opened with. Two Jacks or Better machines at the same bet cost the same only when their Full House and Flush lines are the same. On an example bet of $1.25 a hand, 100 hands cost $0.57 on average at the 9/6 table and $6.25 at the 6/5 table, with optimal play.
Where the machines are, and further reading
19+ (18+ in AB, MB, QC) · Play responsibly · the helplines are further up this page
Further reading
- Video Poker: how to play · OLG PlaySmartHow a hand goes, the hands that pay, and why only the pay table decides what a hand is worth.
- Video Poker: odds · OLG PlaySmartWhy the software has to deal like a live deck, and why no round is luckier than the last.
- Video Poker: strategies · OLG PlaySmartReading the game menu first, and why no machine is ever due.
- Slot machines (brochure) · Loto-QuébecThe machine categories in Québec’s casinos, including poker machines, and where the payout table sits on each machine.
- How to play slots · BCLCMachines in B.C. casinos: the rules on the machine and why every play is independent.
- Jacks or Better: game rules (online version) · Loto-QuébecA full pay table by number of chips and a printed holding strategy, from Loto-Québec’s online casino.
How it’s worked out
Tables, numbers, sources and hosts
Where this happens. Every machine on this page is a Jacks or Better machine played one hand at a time. No document we could read prints the pay table of a video poker machine standing on a casino floor, so the two printed tables come from the rules of online versions of the games, they carry the label online version, and neither table is presented as the table of any room. The online rules call the units of a bet chips and head the five columns X1 to X5; this page says coins.
Tables. The 9/6 table is printed in full in the English rules of the online version of Jacks or Better. The 8/5 table is printed in full in the French rules of the online version of Video Poker; the English rules of a second version of the same online game print the same Full House and Flush lines, and the royal flush line of that second version is not used here. The 9/5, 8/6, 7/5 and 6/5 tables are example pay tables of this lesson, the printed 9/6 table with the Full House and Flush lines changed, and no document we could read prints them. The names 9/6, 8/5 and the rest are this page’s own names for two lines of a table, not a term the rules use.
Numbers. Every return on this page is worked out over all 2,598,960 five-card deals: for each deal, every one of the 32 ways to hold cards, every draw from the 47 cards left, and on every deal the hold that pays the most on average. Every return is for a full bet of five coins, with the royal flush at 4,000 for five coins. The cost of 100 hands is 100 hands times the example bet times the share of the money the table does not return, rounded to the cent. The online rules print the return of each printed table as a range; the upper end matches the five-coin figure here, and the lower end matches the same count at a bet of one to four coins, which is what the count shows and not what the rules say. Every figure carries a machine-readable key, and our checks recompute each figure from the engine on every build.
What is deliberately absent. This page does not say how often any hand turns up: the royal flush and its jump at five coins, and what a bet of fewer coins costs, are lesson 8.3. Which cards to hold, and what a wrong hold costs, are lessons 8.4, 8.5 and 8.7. Deuces Wild and its tables are lesson 8.6; how a hand is dealt and drawn is lesson 8.1; whether a machine is ever due is lesson 8.8. There is no price per hour here: no document we could read gives how many hands an hour people play video poker, so every price is for 100 hands.
Sources. Every claim on this page carries a button with the sentence it rests on, the publisher who wrote that sentence and the date we read it.
Hosts. Leo and Maya are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former dealer and a former floor supervisor, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.
No promise. Video poker is played against the house on every table on this page: even with optimal play on every hand, every table here keeps a share of the money bet over a very long run. Reading the pay table tells you which table keeps less; nothing on this page says how an evening at a machine would end.
The 9/6 table, line by line
Hands X1 X2 X3 X4 X5
Royal Flush 250 500 750 1000 4000
Straight Flush 50 100 150 200 250
Four of A Kind 25 50 75 100 125
Full House 9 18 27 36 45
Flush 6 12 18 24 30
Straight 4 8 12 16 20
Three of A Kind 3 6 9 12 15
Two Pair 2 4 6 8 10
Pair of Jacks or Better 1 2 3 4 5
Loto-Québec (online version) · Jacks or Better — game rules · read
The 8/5 table, line by line
Mains X1 X2 X3 X4 X5
Quinte royale 250 500 750 1000 4000
Quinte 50 100 150 200 250
Carré 25 50 75 100 125
Main pleine 8 16 24 32 40
Couleur 5 10 15 20 25
Séquence 4 8 12 16 20
Brelan 3 6 9 12 15
Deux paires 2 4 6 8 10
Paire de valets ou mieux 1 2 3 4 5
Loto-Québec (online version) · Video Poker — règles de jeu · read
Full House 8 16 24 32 40
Flush 5 10 15 20 25
Loto-Québec (online version) · Video Poker Jackpot — game rules · read
The return of a skill game is worked out with optimal play
The theoretical payout percentage of Skill-Based Games that are traditional card Games (e.g. video poker) or disclose a Strategy is to be calculated using the optimal or disclosed Strategy respectively.
Section 11.9 Game Payout, 11.9.1 to 11.9.4
AGCO · Casino Electronic Gaming Devices and Gaming Systems Minimum Technical Standards · read
Optimal Play or Strategy: The choice from among more than one option presented to a player by a Game which, if selected by the player, offers the greatest theoretical payout percentage to the player.
Section Glossary
AGCO · Casino Electronic Gaming Devices and Gaming Systems Minimum Technical Standards · read
Gambling devices that may be affected by player skill shall meet the requirements of this section when using an optimal method of play that provides the greatest return to the player over a period of continuous play.
Section 4.9.1 Software Requirements for Percentage Payout
The return printed as a range
The RTP value, if the best strategy is applied, is between 98.37% and 99.54%.
Loto-Québec (online version) · Jacks or Better — game rules · read
The RTP value, if the best strategy is applied, is between 96.06% and 97.30%.
Loto-Québec (online version) · Video Poker — game rules · read
The pay table decides
Most casinos offer numerous types of Video Poker, each with their own particular set of rules and wager options.
With no other players in the game, whether their final hand is high or low, all that counts is how it scores against the pay table.
Some players will compare pay tables from game to game by checking their menu screen before deciding on which version of Video Poker to play.
Video Poker odds differ from version to version.
The pay table is on the machine
Next, read the payout table displayed on the upper part of every slot machine.
All winning combinations and paytables are shown on the screen.
Each machine features a help menu for players who want additional information about the particularities of a machine.
Loto-Québec, Société des casinos du Québec · Slot machines — brochure · read
Before you start playing, it’s a good idea to review the game rules printed on the machine or in the onscreen help menu.
Rules of play and pay out information is available by pressing the help, information, or pays button on the machine.
GameSense by AGLC · Slot machines and Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) · read
If you have questions about any game, navigate over to the game menu and read the posted instructions.
Consultez les pages d’aide directement sur les appareils pour accéder aux règles du jeu détaillées.
Loto-Québec · Comment jouer à la loterie vidéo (video lottery terminals in Québec bars) · read
Before the bet
11.1.2 All paytable awards, Game rules, feature information, and automatic selection behaviour rules must be available to the player prior to the player committing a Bet.
Section 11.1 Rules of Play and Information Display, 11.1.2
AGCO · Casino Electronic Gaming Devices and Gaming Systems Minimum Technical Standards · read
A game named on a casino floor
ELECTRONIC TABLE GAMES
4 of a Kind Poker Deuces Wild Poker Jacks or Better Poker
Great Canadian Entertainment · Shorelines Casinos (electronic table games) · read
The minimum theoretical payout
The minimum theoretical payout percentage of a Game is eighty-five (85.000) percent.
Section 11.9 Game Payout, 11.9.1 to 11.9.4
AGCO · Casino Electronic Gaming Devices and Gaming Systems Minimum Technical Standards · read
Each game shall theoretically payout a minimum of eighty-five percent (85%) during the expected lifetime of the game.
Section 4.9.1 Software Requirements for Percentage Payout
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