Free video poker is video poker played in demo mode with play credits. The deal, the hold-and-draw decision and the pay table work exactly as in the paid game, so a demo is the right place to learn strategy. Video poker is unusual among casino games because the maths is printed on the screen: the pay table tells you what every hand pays, and from that the return with perfect play can be calculated to two decimals. A 9/6 Jacks or Better machine returns 99.54% with optimal strategy; the same game with a 6/5 pay table returns 95.00%. Learning to read that table is the most valuable skill in the game.
Video poker for money is for adults only: 18+ (higher in some countries). Our responsible gambling page lists limit tools and free helplines.
Free video poker: how it works
Every game follows the same sequence. You choose a coin value and the number of coins (usually one to five), press Deal and receive five cards from a virtual 52-card deck (53 in Joker Poker). You pick the cards to hold, press Draw, and the discarded cards are replaced from the same deck. The final five-card hand is paid according to the pay table at the top of the screen. That is one hand: no opponents, no bluffing, just you against a fixed table.
In demo mode the balance is virtual and refills on reload. Some strategy trainers go further and warn you when a hold is not the optimal one, which is the fastest way to learn. In Great Britain, casinos licensed by the UK Gambling Commission must verify your age before you can open their free-to-play games, a rule in force since 7 May 2019.
The game screen usually shows the pay table at the top, the cards in the centre and controls at the bottom: last win, current bet and balance. Multi-hand versions deal the same starting hand to several lines; your holds are copied to every line, and each line draws its own replacement cards.
How to read a video poker pay table
Machines are named by what they pay for a full house and a flush per coin. “9/6 Jacks or Better” pays 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush. Here is the full-pay table:
| Hand | Pays per coin (1 to 4 coins) | Pays at 5 coins |
|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 250 | 4,000 (800 per coin) |
| Straight flush | 50 | 250 |
| Four of a kind | 25 | 125 |
| Full house | 9 | 45 |
| Flush | 6 | 30 |
| Straight | 4 | 20 |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 15 |
| Two pair | 2 | 10 |
| Jacks or better (pair) | 1 | 5 |
“Pays” in video poker includes your stake: a pair of jacks “paying 1” gives your coin back. That is why the pair of jacks is the most common winning hand yet earns nothing. Cut the full house to 8 and the flush to 5 and the return drops from 99.54% to 97.30%, a fall of 2.24 points, although the screen looks the same. Always compare the full house and flush numbers before you play.
Video poker returns by pay table
Returns below assume five coins and optimal strategy for that exact pay table (Wizard of Odds).
| Game and pay table | Return with optimal strategy | House edge |
|---|---|---|
| Deuces Wild, full pay | 100.76% | Player edge 0.76% |
| Double Bonus 10/7 | 100.17% | Player edge 0.17% |
| Jacks or Better 9/6 | 99.54% | 0.46% |
| Bonus Poker 8/5 | 99.17% | 0.83% |
| Double Double Bonus 9/6 | 98.98% | 1.02% |
| Jacks or Better 8/5 | 97.30% | 2.70% |
| Jacks or Better 7/5 | 96.15% | 3.85% |
| Jacks or Better 6/5 | 95.00% | 5.00% |
A return above 100% is a theoretical long-run figure that assumes flawless play, and it relies on rare hands such as the royal flush. Over a few hundred hands, variance swamps it. Most online casinos offer 9/6 Jacks or Better or worse; full-pay Deuces Wild is rare online. Treat a theoretical player edge as a reason to choose that game, not as income.
Types of video poker games in online casinos
Jacks or Better
The base game and the best one to learn: a pair of jacks or higher is the lowest paying hand, no wild cards, no special four-of-a-kind payouts. Its strategy carries over, with adjustments, to most other games.
Bonus Poker, Double Bonus and Double Double Bonus
These pay extra for certain four-of-a-kind hands (four aces, four 2s to 4s) and pay for that by cutting two pair to 1 per coin in the Double versions. Double Double Bonus adds a “kicker” bonus, for example four aces with a 2, 3 or 4 paying 400 per coin. Volatility is higher than Jacks or Better.
Deuces Wild
All four 2s are wild, so the lowest paying hand is three of a kind. Full-pay Deuces Wild pays 800 per coin for a natural royal (at five coins), 200 for four deuces, 25 for a wild royal, 15 for five of a kind, 9 for a straight flush, 5 for four of a kind, 3 for a full house, 2 for a flush or a straight and 1 for three of a kind. Strategy differs completely from Jacks or Better: never discard a deuce.
Joker Poker
A 53-card deck with one joker as a wild card. Paying hands start at a pair of kings in the common version. Pay tables vary a lot, so check before you play.
Tens or Better, and other variants
Tens or Better pays from a pair of tens with a lower full house and flush payout to compensate. All American is another variant, with flushes, straights and straight flushes paying more.
Multi-hand video poker
Triple Play, Five Play, Ten Play and larger formats play the same starting hand on several lines. The return per hand is the same as single-hand play with the same pay table; you are simply playing more hands at once, so the cost per deal is multiplied.
Online video poker strategy overview
Strategy in video poker is a ranked list. For each deal, find the highest item on the list your hand contains and hold those cards. This is the simple strategy for 9/6 Jacks or Better published by Wizard of Odds:
- Royal flush, straight flush or four of a kind
- Four cards to a royal flush
- Three of a kind, straight, flush or full house
- Four cards to a straight flush
- Two pair
- High pair (jacks or better)
- Three cards to a royal flush
- Four cards to a flush
- Low pair (2s to 10s)
- Four cards to an outside straight
- Two suited high cards
- Three cards to a straight flush
- Two unsuited high cards (if you have three, hold the lowest two)
- Suited 10 with a jack, queen or king
- One high card
- Discard all five
Three rules surprise most new players. Break a made flush or straight when you hold four to a royal flush. Keep a low pair over four to a flush. Never hold a kicker next to a pair. Each one feels wrong and each one is worth money over time.
This simple list gives up only a tiny fraction of the 99.54% return compared with the full computer strategy. A different pay table needs a different list, and Deuces Wild needs an entirely different one.
Why max coins matters
The royal flush pays 250 per coin for one to four coins and jumps to 800 per coin at five coins. Royals arrive about once every 40,000 hands, but that bonus is worth roughly 1.4 percentage points of return on 9/6 Jacks or Better. If five coins at your coin value is too much, choose a smaller coin value rather than fewer coins.
What the pay table costs you: a worked example
Suppose you play EUR 0.20 coins at five coins, so EUR 1 a hand, at 400 hands an hour. That is EUR 400 staked per hour. On a 9/6 Jacks or Better game with perfect strategy, the expected cost is 0.46% of EUR 400, about EUR 1.84 an hour. Move to an 8/5 table and the cost rises to 2.70%, about EUR 10.80 an hour. A 6/5 table charges 5.00%, or EUR 20 an hour, more than ten times the 9/6 figure. The game, the graphics and the speed are identical; only two numbers in the pay table changed.
Strategy mistakes add to that. Players who keep kickers, chase inside straights or break high pairs for flush draws typically give up one to three points of return. On the 9/6 example, a three-point leak turns EUR 1.84 an hour into roughly EUR 14. Practising in demo mode with a trainer is the cheapest way to close that gap, because mistakes there cost nothing.
Common video poker mistakes
- Playing a short pay table (8/5, 7/5, 6/5) when a 9/6 game is available at the same casino.
- Holding a kicker with a pair, which lowers the chance of improving to three of a kind or better.
- Discarding a low pair to draw to four cards of a straight with a gap.
- Using the Jacks or Better strategy on Deuces Wild or Double Double Bonus.
- Playing fewer than five coins, which loses the royal flush bonus.
- Speeding up with multi-hand play without lowering the coin value, which multiplies the hourly cost.
A short history of video poker
Dale Electronics built an early electronic poker machine, Poker-Matic, in the early 1970s, but video poker took off in 1979 when Si Redd’s company SIRCOMA introduced Draw Poker. SIRCOMA was renamed International Game Technology (IGT) in 1981 and became the largest maker of video poker machines. The 9/6 Jacks or Better table became the reference game in Las Vegas, and online casinos copied the format from the late 1990s. Our IGT page covers the studio today.
Video poker compared with slots and table poker
| Video poker | Slots | Table poker | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who decides the result | RNG deal plus your holds | RNG only | Cards plus your play against other players |
| Maths visible | Yes, from the pay table | Only the published RTP | The house takes a rake, not an edge |
| Typical return | 95% to 99.5%+ depending on pay table and skill | Around 94% to 97% | Depends on your skill against the field |
| Learning curve | A strategy list per game | None | Long |
For the player-versus-player game, see our poker guide for beginners. For slots, our free slots hub explains RTP and volatility.
Where to play video poker for real money
Choose a licensed casino first: check the licence on the regulator’s register, then open the video poker section and compare pay tables before depositing. A casino that offers 9/6 Jacks or Better gives you a 0.46% house edge with perfect play; one that only offers 8/5 or 7/5 charges you six to eight times more. Our list of the best online casinos is ranked by our published method. We do not list casinos specifically for video poker on this page, because we could not verify which pay tables our partner casinos offer.
Bonuses rarely help: video poker often counts 10% to 20% or nothing towards wagering, and some casinos exclude it.
Play video poker safely
Video poker is fast, often 400 or more hands an hour online, so even a low edge adds up. Set a deposit and time limit, choose a coin size that lets five-coin play fit your budget, and stop when the session budget is gone. Free help: the National Gambling Helpline (GamCare) on 0808 8020 133 in England and Scotland or 0808 2819 265 in Wales, or Gambling Therapy internationally. Only operators licensed by the UK Gambling Commission may offer gambling to people in Great Britain.
Frequently asked questions
Can I play video poker for free?
Yes. Most online video poker games have a demo mode with play credits, and several strategy sites offer free trainers that flag mistakes. In Great Britain, licensed casinos must verify your age before you can open their free-to-play games.
What is the difference between video poker and slots?
Video poker deals from a virtual 52-card deck and lets you choose which cards to keep, so your decisions change the return. The pay table shows exactly what each hand pays, which lets you calculate the return. A slot’s outcome is decided entirely by the RNG, and its maths is hidden apart from the published RTP.
What is video poker strategy?
A ranked list of which cards to hold for every possible deal, worked out by computer for a specific pay table. Following it on 9/6 Jacks or Better gives a 99.54% return; playing by instinct usually costs one to three percentage points.
Which video poker has the best odds?
Among common games, full-pay Deuces Wild (100.76%), 10/7 Double Bonus (100.17%) and 9/6 Jacks or Better (99.54%) return the most with perfect strategy. Online, full-pay Deuces Wild is rare; 9/6 Jacks or Better is the most realistic good table.
Are online video poker sites reliable?
Licensed casinos must use tested random number generators, and each hand is dealt from a freshly shuffled virtual deck. Check the casino’s licence on the regulator’s register and check the pay table, because a fair game with a poor pay table still costs you more.
How often do you hit a royal flush in video poker?
On 9/6 Jacks or Better with optimal strategy, about once every 40,000 hands. At a few hundred hands an hour that is well over 100 hours of play on average, which is why the royal flush payout matters so much to the return.
Should I always bet max coins in video poker?
On most games, yes, if the stake suits your budget: the royal flush pays 800 per coin at five coins but only 250 per coin at fewer. On 9/6 Jacks or Better, playing fewer than five coins cuts the return by roughly 1.4 percentage points. A lower coin value at five coins is better than more coins at one.