Last Updated on August 3, 2026 by Bala Kumar

Most casino games don’t let you do anything about the house edge once you sit down. Video poker is the exception, the machine deals you five cards, and every single decision about what to hold and what to discard is entirely yours. That’s the whole appeal, and it’s also why so many players leave money on the table without realizing it. This guide breaks down video poker strategy variant by variant, with the exact numbers that separate a 99.5% game from a 96% one,  because the difference isn’t luck, it’s which machine you sat down at and whether you played the hand correctly.

Why the Paytable Matters More Than the Machine

Before any hand is dealt, the single biggest decision in video poker has already been made: which paytable you’re sitting at. Two machines can have the exact same game name — Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, whatever, and return wildly different percentages depending on how the payouts for full house, flush, and four-of-a-kind are set. This is the part beginners skip past, and it’s the part that actually determines whether you’re playing a fair game or a trap dressed up to look like one.

The fix is simple in principle: compare the payout for a full house and a flush (on Jacks or Better) or the four-of-a-kind and straight flush payouts (on Deuces Wild) against the reference numbers below before you put a single coin in.

RTP by Variant: 2026 Paytable Comparison

Here’s how the major video poker variants stack up at their best available paytable, assuming perfect play. These are the numbers worth memorizing before you memorize anything else:

Variant	Best Paytable	RTP (Perfect Play)
Jacks or Better	9/6 (full pay)	99.54%
Jacks or Better	9/5 (common short pay)	98.45%
Double Bonus Poker	10/7 (full pay)	100.17%
Bonus Poker	8/5 (full pay)	99.17%
Double Double Bonus Poker	9/6 (full pay)	98.98%
Deuces Wild	Full pay (25/15/9/5/3/2)	100.76%
Deuces Wild	NSU / “Not So Ugly” (common online)	99.73%
Bonus Deuces Wild	Full pay	99.86%
Joker Poker	Kings or Better, full pay	100.65%

Full-pay Deuces Wild and Double Bonus Poker theoretically return over 100% with perfect play, which is exactly why they’ve become rare online in 2026 — operators have quietly shifted toward the shorter NSU and 9/6 Deuces variants instead. Always check the actual paytable on the machine you’re playing; the game’s name alone tells you nothing about its return.

How to Read a Paytable in 10 Seconds

You don’t need to analyze every payout line. Check the “swing” hands first — the ones that move fastest between paytable versions:

●       Jacks or Better / Bonus games: check the Full House and Flush payouts first. 9/6 is full pay; anything lower (9/5, 8/5, 6/5) drops the return noticeably.

●       Deuces Wild: check the Four of a Kind and Straight Flush payouts. A drop from 5-to-1 on quads to 4-to-1 collapses the RTP fast.

●       Any variant: if the machine doesn’t clearly display its return percentage, treat that as a red flag rather than an oversight.

The Jacks or Better Strategy Chart (Full Pay 9/6)

Once you’ve found a full-pay machine, the payout only means anything if you play every hand correctly. Below is a simplified video poker strategy chart — ranked from strongest hold to weakest. When more than one applies to your hand, always take the one that ranks highest.

Rank	Hold
1	Royal flush — always hold
2	Straight flush
3	Four of a kind
4	4 to a royal flush
5	Full house
6	Flush
7	Three of a kind
8	Straight
9	4 to a straight flush
10	Two pair
11	High pair (Jacks or better)
12	3 to a royal flush
13	4 to a flush
14	Low pair (10s or below)
15	4 to an outside straight
16	2 suited high cards
17	3 to a straight flush
18	2 unsuited high cards
19	Discard everything — draw 5 fresh cards

This is a condensed reference for quick decisions at the table. The full expanded chart runs to roughly 30+ lines with exact expected-value tiebreakers for edge-case hands — worth bookmarking or printing if you play seriously.

Deuces Wild: A Different Kind of Strategy Entirely

Wild-card games rewrite the hierarchy completely, which is exactly why a video poker basic strategy built for Jacks or Better will actively lose you money on Deuces Wild. With four deuces acting as wild cards, the math shifts hard toward big hands: three deuces is stronger than four-of-a-kind in most cases, and a made straight with one deuce often beats holding a pair. The core adjustment: never break a made four-of-a-kind or better, prioritize hands with more deuces over hands with more “natural” cards, and treat any deuce in your hand as the anchor around which everything else is decided.

Different wild-card and bonus-payout structures mean different video poker strategies are needed for Bonus Deuces, Joker Poker, and Double Double Bonus — none of them play like standard Jacks or Better, and using the wrong chart is one of the most common ways players quietly give back their edge. Bookmark this page — we’ll keep the video poker strategy charts above updated as paytables shift through 2026.

Common Strategy Mistakes That Cost RTP

●       Playing a short-pay machine because it “looks” the same as full pay — always verify the actual payout numbers, not the game name.

●       Breaking a made flush or straight to draw for a royal — almost never correct outside of very specific 4-to-a-royal situations.

●       Holding a kicker alongside a low pair — it doesn’t increase your odds of a bonus hand enough to offset the lost draw.

●       Applying Jacks or Better instincts to Deuces Wild or Joker Poker — the presence of wild cards changes almost every hold decision.

●       Betting fewer than 5 coins — the royal flush jackpot bonus only kicks in at max coins, and it’s a meaningful chunk of every full-pay game’s total return.

Where to Practice Video Poker in 2026

The best way to internalize a strategy chart is to play enough hands that the correct hold becomes automatic — and that’s much cheaper to do on sweepstakes platforms, where Gold Coin play is free and unlimited before any real Sweeps Coins are involved. Here’s how the main platforms compare for video poker specifically:

Platform	Video Poker Availability	Currency Model	Notes
Global Poker	Available in casino section alongside poker tables	Gold Coins (free play) + Sweeps Coins	Best for players who also want live-opponent poker on the same account
Chumba Casino	Multiple video poker titles including Jacks or Better	Gold Coins + Sweeps Coins	Longest track record (8+ years); strong for casual play
Pulsz	Limited table poker; video poker selection is smaller	Gold Coins + Sweeps Coins	Better for slots-first players who want occasional video poker
RealPrize	Both table poker and video poker offered	Gold Coins + Sweeps Coins	Broad state availability; good secondary option

Typical purchase ratio across these platforms in 2026: roughly $10 for 100,000 Gold Coins plus 30-50 Sweeps Coins, though exact figures vary by platform and promotion — confirm current terms before purchasing.

Ready to put the numbers above into practice without risking anything? Start with free Gold Coin play on a sweepstakes platform, run through the Jacks or Better chart until the holds feel automatic, then move to Sweeps Coins once the decisions stop requiring conscious thought.

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