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Read a video poker pay table

Copy the pays from the machine’s glass and see what the table returns with optimal play, worked out over all 2,598,960 deals. At $1 a hand, 100 hands of 9/6 Jacks or Better cost about $0.46 on average; 100 spins on a slot returning 92% cost about $8.00.

Your pay table

Pick the game, then enter what each hand pays for one credit. Optimal play means that on every deal you keep the cards that pay the most on average.

Pay tables with a published figure

Wizard of Odds lists these tables and what each returns with optimal play; our count gives the same figure for every one of them. A table that is not here gets our count and the words “we have no checked figure for this table”.

Jacks or Better

Pay tableReturnsSource
9/6 Jacks or BetterFull house 9 · Flush 699.54%
9/5 Jacks or BetterFull house 9 · Flush 598.45%
8/6 Jacks or BetterFull house 8 · Flush 698.39%
8/5 Jacks or BetterFull house 8 · Flush 597.30%
7/5 Jacks or BetterFull house 7 · Flush 596.15%
6/5 Jacks or BetterFull house 6 · Flush 595.00%

Deuces Wild

Pay tableReturnsSource
Full Pay Deuces WildFive of a kind 15 · Straight flush 9 · Four of a kind 5 · Full house 3 · Flush 2100.76%
Not So Ugly Ducks Deuces WildFive of a kind 16 · Straight flush 10 · Four of a kind 4 · Full house 4 · Flush 399.73%
Deuces Wild 25/15/10/4/4/3Five of a kind 15 · Straight flush 10 · Four of a kind 4 · Full house 4 · Flush 399.42%
Deuces Wild 20/12/9/5/3/2Five of a kind 12 · Straight flush 9 · Four of a kind 5 · Full house 3 · Flush 298.94%
Illinois Deuces WildFive of a kind 15 · Straight flush 9 · Four of a kind 4 · Full house 4 · Flush 398.91%
Deuces Wild 20/15/9/4/4/3Five of a kind 15 · Straight flush 9 · Four of a kind 4 · Full house 4 · Flush 397.97%

Show the model

How often each final hand comes up with optimal play, and how much of the return it brings, for 9/6 Jacks or Better.

Final handPaysProbabilityAbout 1 inAdds to the return
Royal flush8000.00248%40,3911.98%
Straight flush500.0109%9,1480.55%
Four of a kind250.236%4235.91%
Full house91.15%8710.36%
Flush61.10%916.61%
Straight41.12%894.49%
Three of a kind37.44%1322.33%
Two pair212.93%825.86%
Jacks or better121.46%521.46%
Anything else054.54%20.00%
Return99.54%

How it’s worked out

Every deal, every hold. For each of the 2,598,960 five-card deals we try all 32 ways of keeping cards, count every draw from the 47 cards left, and take the hold that pays the most on average. The return is the average over all deals. Nothing is sampled or estimated.

Checked against a published source. For 9/6 Jacks or Better and Full Pay Deuces Wild our count of every final hand equals the Combinations column of Wizard of Odds, and every table above returns the figure Wizard of Odds prints, to its last decimal. If a figure ever differed, this page would not be built.

What it assumes. One hand at a time, dealt from a full 52-card deck, at a full bet, with the pays you enter for one credit. It ignores mistakes: any hold other than the one that pays the most on average lowers the return.

No cost per hour. We have no published figure for how many hands an hour people play video poker, so the cost is shown per 100 hands.

For comparison, slot machines: 92% is the average return at B.C. casinos ; 85% is the lowest return Ontario’s technical standards allow a slot, not an average .

Casinos that name video poker

10 casinos name video poker on their own website or their operator’s page for them; tap a name for the words and the page. Their pay tables are not published, so read the glass before you play.

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.

1-866-531-2600Ontario · ConnexOntario · 24 hours
1-800-461-0140Quebec · Jeu: aide et référence · 24 hours
1-888-795-6111British Columbia · Gambling Support BC · 24 hours
1-866-332-2322Alberta · Addiction Helpline (Recovery Alberta) · 24 hours
1-800-463-1554Manitoba · Problem Gambling Helpline · 24 hours
1-800-306-6789Saskatchewan · Problem Gambling Help Line · 24 hours
1-888-429-8167Nova Scotia · Mental Health and Addictions Crisis Line · 24 hours
1-800-461-1234New Brunswick · Gambling Information Line
1-855-255-4255Prince Edward Island · PEI Gambling Support Line · 24 hours
811Newfoundland and Labrador · Gambling Help Line · 24 hours
1-844-533-3030Yukon · Reach Out Support Line (CMHA Yukon)

If you are thinking about suicide, call or text 9-8-8

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