Video Poker Pay Tables and Payback Percentages

On every video poker machine, you will see a table with the names of poker hands and number beside them. This is the pay table. Before you play any video poker, you should understand the pay table and how it works.

Video poker pays you if you make a winning poker hand. A poker hand, as you may know, is a combination of cards such as four cards of the same suit, five cards in order and so on. Now two things need to be considered here: which hands pay, and how much they pay.

First, which hands pay? Not all poker hands pay in video poker. There is always a minimum qualifying hand, and then that bottom hand does not really pay. It just gives you back your original bet like a push in blackjack, so you just break even. However for convenience (or deception?) it is said that the minimum hand on the pay table is a paying hand. In Jacks or Better the minimum "paying" hand is a pair of Jacks or better (i.e. a pair of Queens, Kings or Aces). With that hand, your bet will be returned. Joker's Wild or Kings or Better pays for a pair of kings or better. Deuces Wild requires Three a Kind at least.

Next how much does each hand actually pay? It now depends on the machine. Be careful here because when you see two Jacks or Better machines, it doesn't automatically mean they pay the same. Look at the pay tables closely before you play.

A Jacks or Better pay table is normally named by its full house and flush payouts. For example, a 6/5 pay table means that video poker machine pays 6-1 for a full house and 5-1 for a flush.

For Jacks or Better, look for no less than 9/6 pay table. The payback percentage for this if played with perfect strategy is 99.5%. As the pay table gets worse, the payback percentage gets smaller. There are 9/5, 8/5, 7/5 and other pay tables.

A Jacks or Better Double Bonus game has a 100.1% payback percentage when played with best strategy. Deuces Wild pays even more - 100.7%. But this game is rare.

Here is the Jacks or Better 9/6 pay table. Don't forget that the minimum paying hand only returns your bet. The numbers on the top row are the amount of coins you bet. The payout figures indicate coins, not dollar amounts. So 250 means 250 coins whether those are nickel, quarter, or other coins.

1 2 3 4 5 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 Pairs 2 4 6 8 10 Jacks or Better 1 2 3 4 5

Always look at the pay table first before you play video poker in a live casino. Better yet, play in online casinos instead. Online casinos have cheaper maintenance costs so they can afford to be more generous. It is also much more convenient for you, the player.