The best odds on the casino floor — but only if you know the paytable and play the hands right.
Video poker looks like a slot machine but plays nothing like one. The house edge on a proper full pay Jacks or Better machine is about half a percent — better than blackjack, better than craps pass line, better than almost anything on the floor. But that number only applies to players who know two things: how to read the paytable, and how to play the hands. This is the short version of both.
Every Jacks or Better machine looks the same from across the room. The cabinet, the graphics, the button layout — identical. What differs is the paytable, which is printed right on the screen. The paytable determines the game's return, and one tiny number change can take it from "best game in the casino" to "a bad slot machine."
The shorthand is two numbers: Full House / Flush payouts. A 9/6 machine pays 9 coins for a full house and 6 for a flush (per coin bet). That's full pay. Anything lower is short pay.
| Hand | 9/6 Full Pay | 8/5 | 7/5 | 6/5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 800 | 800 | 800 | 800 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Full House | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| Flush | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Straight | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Return w/ Perfect Play | 99.54% | 97.30% | 96.15% | 95.00% |
Read the bottom row carefully. Same game, same strategy — but one menu gives you a 0.46% house edge and another takes ten times more of your money. The machine matters more than any play you make on it.
If the full house pays less than 9, or the flush pays less than 6, walk away.
Better machines still exist — especially in Las Vegas off-Strip and some locals casinos. In South Florida, 8/5 is common; 9/6 is rarer but exists in high-limit rooms. If you can't find 9/6, 8/5 is acceptable as a compromise.
Royal Flush payouts are flat — 250 coins per coin bet — except when you bet the fifth coin. Then it jumps to 4,000 coins. That single bonus is about 2% of the machine's total return. Skipping max coins means forfeiting it.
Every hand dealt gives you five cards and the choice of which to hold or discard. Perfect strategy is a long list, but 90% of your decisions fall into the priorities below. When multiple options exist, pick the higher-ranked one.
Keep all 5 cards. Never break these up. Cash them and move on.
Break up a flush, straight, or even a full house to draw for a royal. The payoff multiple justifies the risk. The only exception is a pat straight flush.
Keep them. With three of a kind, discard the two kickers to draw for 4-of-a-kind or a full house.
Hold. Open-ended 4-card straight flushes are a top draw.
Always keep both pairs. Discard the fifth card and draw for the full house. Never break up two pair to chase trips.
Keep the pair, discard the other three cards. Draws toward trips, two pair, or full house.
Discard everything else and draw for the royal. Even if you have a low pair, the royal EV is higher.
Hold the four suited cards. Flush is only 1 card away with 9 outs.
Hold the pair. Low pairs beat most "almost" draws. Only break them for a 4-to-royal.
Open-ended 4-card straights are held only if you have nothing better. A gutshot (inside straight) is not worth holding unless it has high cards.
If you're dealt five random cards with no pairs, no high cards, no draws — hold nothing and redraw all five. This happens about 7% of the time and it's correct play. Don't hold "random" cards for luck; discard them all.
Looking identical to 9/6 tricks many players. Always check the paytable. A 2% swing adds up to hundreds of dollars over a session.
Forfeiting the royal flush bonus turns a 99.54% machine into about 98.4%. Lower your denomination instead.
Two pair pays. Three of a kind pays slightly more — but you'll miss most of the time trying. Keep the made hand.
Holding an Ace just because it's high — when you have no pair, no suited connection, no straight draw — is incorrect play. Discard it with everything else.
Solid strategy trainers exist (WinPoker, Video Poker for Winners), and casinos generally allow them. Use one while learning — it's not cheating, and it saves real money.
Even with a 99.54% return, variance is brutal. The royal flush — your single biggest payout — hits roughly once every 40,000 hands. Between royals you can easily be down several hundred coins. Size your bankroll with that in mind.
For full pay Jacks or Better at max coins, bring at least 200 max-coin bets per session — that means $1,000 for quarters ($1.25 per hand × 200 × 4 for safety). Less and a cold streak ends you before variance evens out. This isn't pessimism; it's just the math of a game with an 800-for-1 top prize.
Your biggest decision in video poker isn't how you play. It's which machine you play on. Find 9/6, bet max, keep the made hand — the math does the rest.