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Pay tables & strategy

Video poker, calculated.

The name on the cabinet is not enough. Identify the exact pay table, then use the strategy created for that version.

Benchmark game

9/6 Jacks or Better

“9/6” means a full house pays 9 for 1 and a flush pays 6 for 1 at a five-credit wager. With accurate strategy and the full-credit royal payout, the long-run return is approximately 99.54%.

Max-coin issue: Many machines pay only 250-for-1 on a one-credit royal but 800-for-1 when five credits are bet. Check the entire pay table before using the published return.
Five-credit handPer-credit payout
Royal flush800:1
Straight flush50:1
Four of a kind25:1
Full house9:1
Flush6:1
Straight4:1
Three of a kind3:1
Two pair2:1
Jacks or better1:1
Same game name, different price

Jacks or Better pay-table comparison

Returns assume full-pay royal treatment and strategy appropriate to each table.

9/6 Jacks or Better99.54%theoretical return
9/5 Jacks or Better98.45%theoretical return
8/6 Jacks or Better98.39%theoretical return
8/5 Jacks or Better97.30%theoretical return
7/5 Jacks or Better96.15%theoretical return
6/5 Jacks or Better95.12%theoretical return

9/6 strategy hierarchy

Read from top to bottom and hold the first category your hand matches. This is a practical condensed hierarchy; penalty-card exceptions exist near close decisions.

  1. Royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind
  2. Four cards to a royal flush
  3. Full house, flush, straight, three of a kind
  4. Four cards to a straight flush
  5. Two pair
  6. High pair: jacks, queens, kings, or aces
  7. Three cards to a royal flush
  8. Four cards to a flush
  9. Low pair
  10. Four-card outside straight
  11. Two suited high cards
  12. Three cards to a straight flush, selected by gaps and high cards
  13. Two unsuited high cards; then one high card
  14. Discard all five when no listed hold applies

What changes the answer

  • Bonus Poker, Double Bonus, Double Double Bonus, and Deuces Wild need different strategies.
  • Progressive royals can change close holds once the jackpot is sufficiently large.
  • Wild cards change both hand rankings and optimal holds.
  • A return figure is meaningless if it belongs to a different pay table.
Method note

Return figures are based on complete combinatorial analysis for the stated pay tables and were cross-checked against published Wizard of Odds tables. Rounded values are shown for comparison.

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