Video Poker

Video Poker is a casino game based on five-card draw poker, played on a machine rather than against other players. The player is dealt five cards, chooses which to keep ("hold") and which to discard, then receives replacement cards to form a final five-card hand. Payouts are based on the strength of the final hand according to standard poker rankings. Unlike slot machines, Video Poker involves genuine strategy — the player's decisions about which cards to hold significantly affect the expected return.

Rules

1. The player places a bet (typically 1-5 coins).
2. Five cards are dealt face up from a standard 52-card deck (some variants use a joker).
3. The player selects which cards to hold (keep). Any cards not held are discarded.
4. Replacement cards are dealt from the remaining deck to fill the discarded positions.
5. The final five-card hand is evaluated against a paytable.
6. Winnings are paid according to the hand rank and bet size.

Hand Rankings (highest to lowest)

| Hand | Description |

|------|------------|

| Royal Flush | A, K, Q, J, 10 all of the same suit |

| Straight Flush | Five consecutive cards of the same suit |

| Four of a Kind | Four cards of the same rank |

| Full House | Three of a kind plus a pair |

| Flush | Five cards of the same suit |

| Straight | Five consecutive cards of any suit |

| Three of a Kind | Three cards of the same rank |

| Two Pair | Two different pairs |

| Jacks or Better | A pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Aces |

Common Variants

• Jacks or Better (9/6): The standard variant. Full house pays 9x, flush pays 6x. The most favorable common paytable with ~99.54% return.
• Deuces Wild: All 2s are wild cards. Minimum winning hand is three of a kind. Strategy changes dramatically with wild cards.
• Joker Poker: One or two jokers added to the deck as wild cards.
• Bonus Poker: Higher payouts for certain four-of-a-kind hands.
• Double Bonus: Even higher four-of-a-kind payouts, but reduced full house and flush pay.

Strategies

• Always Hold a Winning Hand: If dealt a pair of Jacks or better, hold it. Don't break a winning hand chasing a higher one unless the expected value is clearly better.
• Hold High Cards: Unpaired face cards (J, Q, K, A) have value as potential high pairs. Hold up to two high cards when you have nothing else.
• Four to a Flush/Straight: Hold four cards to a flush over a low pair. Hold four to an open-ended straight (but not an inside straight) over a single high card.
• Never Break a Pat Hand: Don't discard from a straight, flush, full house, or better. The exception: break a straight or flush if you have four to a royal flush.
• Three to a Royal Flush: Three cards toward a royal flush is worth holding even over a made pair (in most variants).
• Discard Everything: If dealt five unrelated low cards, discard all five and draw fresh.

Video Poker's origins trace back to the mid-1970s when the first electronic poker machines appeared in casinos. Si Redd (Sircoma, later International Game Technology or IGT) is credited with developing and popularizing the first successful video poker machines, introducing "Draw Poker" in 1979. The machines were initially placed on casino floors as a novelty alongside slot machines.

The game gained rapid popularity throughout the 1980s, particularly in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Players appreciated that unlike slot machines, Video Poker offered transparency — the odds could be calculated from the paytable, and player skill genuinely influenced the outcome. Mathematician and author Stanford Wong published the first Video Poker strategy guide, and players began to realize that certain paytables offered returns above 99%, making Video Poker one of the best bets in the casino.

The "golden age" of Video Poker was the 1990s and early 2000s, when casinos in Las Vegas offered generous paytables (full-pay Deuces Wild at 100.76% return, and 10/7 Double Bonus at 100.17%) to attract players. Professional Video Poker players emerged — individuals who played full-time, exploiting favorable paytables combined with casino comp programs to earn a living. Books by Bob Dancer, Jean Scott, and others taught optimal strategy to a growing audience.

Over time, casinos have gradually reduced paytables (switching from 9/6 Jacks or Better to 8/5 or worse), making the game less favorable for players. However, Video Poker remains one of the most popular electronic casino games worldwide, valued for its combination of simplicity, strategy, and relatively low house edge compared to other casino games. Online casinos have further expanded its reach, offering dozens of variants with detailed strategy trainers available.