Video Poker Strategy

Like most other casino games, video poker is a game of luck rather than skill. You have to place your bet before you know what cards you've been dealt and there is no way to know what cards will come.

However, while it's a luck-based game, there is an element of strategy used when deciding which cards to hold and which to throw away. It's this strategy that we're going to take a look at in this article, so read on if you want to learn how to play video poker perfectly.

Why you should learn video poker strategy

Video poker is a game category with one of the lowest house edges at casinos. Many games will have a house edge of around 0.5%, but there are also some machines that have a positive RTP (return to player) rate! The catch is that you need to use the perfect strategy if you want to limit the house edge that much or even be profitable on one of the few remaining positive RTP rate machines.

Any deviation from perfection will increase the house edge, so the more mistakes you make, the faster you lose your money. While the golden era of video poker is over and it's no longer a viable way of making money, learning to play optimally will limit the amount you lose at a casino and will make your money last longer – giving you more playing time.

Optimal strategy vs simple strategy

When it comes to learning video poker strategy, you have two main choices: optimal strategy or simple strategy. The optimal strategy is more difficult to learn, but it will result in a lower house edge. However, the simple strategy does not increase the house edge by much at all. In fact, it only increases it by 0.08%, which works out to one bet every 1178 hands if you're betting the maximum.

As your edge isn't significantly affected by which strategy you choose, most people will start by learning the simple strategy, as there is about half the number of rules in the simple strategy compared to the optimal strategy. In the end, it comes down to personal preference. If you're just looking for a way to make your video poker sessions last longer, the simple strategy will work just fine. But if you've got a passion for the game and hope to make money from the positive RTP rate machines, you're better off fully understanding the optimal strategy.

Jacks or Better video poker optimal strategy

The game type we will focus on is the "Full Pay Jacks or Better" video poker machine, as that's the most common game you will find in a casino. To make sure you're playing the same game, check the pay table against the one below.

If your pay table matches the one above, then you're playing the Full Pay game, and if it doesn't, then you're likely playing the Half Pay game.

Before you check out the strategy table, here are some important terms you'll need to know:

• Suit Abbreviations – Rather than writing out "the king of hearts" for each card, poker players use a shorthand where they write the first letter of the suit next to the value of the card. In the above example, "the king of hearts" becomes Kh.
• High Card – A high card is a jack, queen, king, or ace. These are kept more often as they return the original bet if you make a pair.
• Outside straight – A straight draw that can be completed at either end, such as 4 5 6 7; you can draw a 3 or an 8 to make the straight.
• Inside straight – A straight draw that can only be completed with one card, such as 7 8 9 J, or A 2 3 4.
• Penalty card – A card that would be useful in making a hand. For example, discarding the 5h when holding Ah Kh Th makes it harder to make a flush, as once a card is discarded, you cannot be dealt it again.

Optimal strategy table

To use this table, look at all the reasonable ways to play your hand, and choose the play that's the highest on the list. For example, if you're dealt Ac Kc Qc Td Ts, there are several ways you can play the hand. You can keep the low pair, draw to the inside straight or draw to the 3 to a royal flush. Checking the table, you can see that keeping A, K, and Q to a royal flush has the highest expected payout, which makes it the optimal strategy. Bear in mind that this strategy relies on you betting the maximum on each hand.

3 types of straight flush draws

• Type 1 – A straight flush draw where the number of high cards equals or exceeds the number of gaps. For example, Ks Qs Ts has one gap and two high cards.
• Type 2 – One of the following straight flush draws:
  
  • One gap, no high cards
  • Two gaps, one high card
  • Ace low, e.g. A34, A25
  • 234
• Type 3 – A straight flush draw with two gaps and no high cards.

As you can see, there's a lot to take in! If you're able to implement this strategy at the machines, you can achieve an RTP rate of 99.54%, meaning a house edge of only 0.46%!

But how easy is it to learn and use this chart? We've got some examples below that will test your knowledge of it.

Example #1: Keep a low pair or draw to a flush?

In this hand, you're dealt the following cards:

• Ac Jc 9c 9d 5c

You have a pair of nines, but you also have a flush draw. Should you keep the nines and try to draw to two pair or three of a kind, or should you break the pair to draw to the flush? If you're not sure, check the strategy table for some help.

If you said draw to the flush, you are correct! Four to a flush is higher in the table and has an expected payout of 1.2766, compared to the low pair's 0.8237, making it the clear choice.

Example #2: Keep a straight or draw to a straight flush

In the last hand, you had to choose between a weak draw and a straight draw, but in this scenario, you already have a made hand with a straight. This is the hand you're dealt:

• 7h 6h 5h 4h 3d

If you keep it, you're guaranteed a payout of 4 times your bet. But the question is, should you break it to try to hit the straight flush, which will pay out 50x your bet? What do you think?

If you said to keep the straight, you are correct! It's better to keep the made hand and guarantee yourself the win than it is to draw to the higher payout. As you can see in the chart above, drawing to a straight flush will give you an expected payout of 3.5319, whereas keeping the straight guarantees you a 4x payout.

Example #3: Keep suited QJ or draw to an inside straight

Our last example is a lot harder to figure out… This is the hand you're dealt:

• As Qd Jd Tc 3h

Our two choices here are drawing to the inside straight with three high cards, or holding the QJs in an attempt to make a high-value hand like a flush, a straight flush, or even a royal flush. However, if you draw to the straight, you also have the potential of making a pair with the J, Q, or A, which will give you your money back. What do you think?

If you said to keep the QJs, you'd be correct! While it may be hard to believe, keeping the QJs has a higher expected value than drawing to an inside straight. When you draw to a straight, even with three high cards, you're capping your potential win at 4x your bet. By keeping the QJs, you give yourself a chance at a straight flush or even a royal flush, even if those chances are slim.

The expected payout from holding the QJs is 0.6004, whereas drawing to an inside straight with three high cards has an expected payout of 0.5319.

Jacks or Better video poker simple strategy chart

Now, while the optimal strategy is all well and good, most of us don't have time to sit down and learn all 36 rules before we head to the casino. When gambling online, you can have the chart available as a cheat sheet, but it will still require some time and effort to understand and quickly refer to. Therefore, the simple strategy is more commonly used.

Given that the EV (expected value) loss is only 0.08% between the optimal and the simple strategies, it's better to learn the simple strategy if you're just playing for fun. You will then only have to learn the following order of hand strengths:

Following the strategy chart is exactly the same; look at your hand and all the ways you can play it and choose the highest placed one on the list.

Final video poker tips

If you want a bit of extra help while you play video poker, remember these helpful tips.

1. Always check the pay table – Make sure that you're playing the Full Bet version of Jacks or Better by checking the machine's pay table against the one in this article. If you're not playing the Full Bet version, this strategy will not be optimal.
2. Always bet the max – When you're playing video poker, the most profitable way is to bet the maximum on each hand. Doing this gives you the chance to win the royal flush jackpot and make the max from your big hands.
3. Slow down – There's no rush when you're playing video poker, and it's better to take a few seconds to analyze your hand and make the right decision than it is to play a hand quickly and make a mistake. No one will come over to rush you, so take your time and fully think about the hand before playing.
4. Always go for a royal – If you've got four to a royal flush, it's worth breaking almost every hand (aside from a made straight flush) to draw to it, as the jackpot for hitting a royal is so high.
5. Low pairs over high cards – While it may seem logical to ditch a low pair to give yourself more chances at making jacks or better, the higher payouts of two pairs and three of a kind make it better to hold onto a low pair and throw away your high cards.

If you want to practise these tips before playing for real money, Casino Guru offers you the chance to play video poker for free!

Summary

While you're not going to make yourself a guaranteed winner by learning video poker strategy, you can reduce the house edge to less than half a percent and make your money last longer. It's a very fun game to play, and even using the simple strategy will make it one of the better valued games in the casino. So if you enjoy playing video poker, it's a good idea to learn a strategy!