Video poker is one of the few casino games where the player's input has a major effect on the outcome of the game. Every time you push Deal you receive five new cards and have a total of thirty-two ways to play the hand. To be a successful video poker player, you have to make the best choice out of those thirty-two options as often as possible.

• Video Poker Strategy Charts
• Video Blackjack Odds Chart Full
• Video Poker Strategy Free

Since computers can mathematically analyze all thirty-two ways to play any given hand, it is possible to figure out the absolutely correct decision for every hand you receive. However, most players don't carry around high powered computers when they are in the casino, so how is this useful?

Well, fortunately for us, some video poker experts have taken it upon themselves to analyze every single hand that can come off the deck, and assemble their findings into easy to read charts that teach players how to play. Below we have strategy charts for the most common video poker games:

• Dear Wizard, In video poker, what are the odds of drawing the following cards to a royal flush? Dealt a royal flush. I am asking the question because I recently hit a royal flush after holding 2 cards the ace and jack of diamonds and then drew the ten, queen and king of.
• Video Poker Strategy Charts Video poker is one of the few casino games where the player's input has a major effect on the outcome of the game. Every time you push Deal you receive five new cards and have a total of thirty-two ways to play the hand.

If you are new to video poker and would like a quick primer on pay tables, read on: Fact #1 - Bet More for Better Odds. Almost every video poker machine allows you to bet between one and five coins per hand. If you look at the payouts for one coin, two coins, three coins, four coins.

Where to Play Video Poker Online

Most of our pages above list just an expert-level strategy chart that will get you to within 0.1% of the maximum payout percentage for the respective game. Some of the pages also list a beginner-level strategy chart that isn't as accurate, but is easier to follow. If you want to play video poker on your PC check out our guide here. Alternatively, you can also have a look at this site's list of ipad video poker app for real money.

How to Use a Video Poker Strategy Chart

The strategy charts on our site are actually very simple to understand, but to a beginner they may be a bit overwhelming at the start. To use a chart you follow these steps:

1. Analyze your hand. Make sure you look at all five of your cards before looking at the chart.
2. Start at the top of the chart and work down. You are looking for any spots on the chart where your hand matches up. For example, if you had four hearts in your hand as well as a pair of Kings, it would match up with 'Four to a Flush' as well as 'High Pair'.
3. Once you find a couple matches for your hand, observe which one is highest on the chart. Hold the cards indicated by the highest match.

Video Poker Strategy Charts

If you still are a little confused, check out the below example to clear things up:

An Example Hand Analysis

Imagine you are playing a normal Deuces Wild video poker machine. You push 'Draw', and are dealt the hand below:

Ok, so what do we have here as far as options? Well, first of all, we have a Pat Straight, Seven to Jack - a made hand. We also have four clubs, so we have Four to a Flush. If we look at the chart below (a condensed strategy chart for Deuces Wild), we can see that a Pat Straight is just above Four to a Flush, so the Pat Straight is the better hand of the two.

But wait! Since all we need for a straight flush is the nine of clubs, we also have Four to a Straight Flush. Because Four to a Straight Flush is higher on the chart than both a Pat Straight and Four to a Flush, the correct play here is to hold the four clubs and discard the nine of spades in hopes of hitting the Straight Flush.

See - it really isn't bad at all, as long as you pay attention to all the cards in your hand.

How Accurate are Strategy Charts?

Another intelligent question to ask is how accurate are these charts? If you find a game that returns 100.5%, but your chart has 0.6% error in it, then you are actually only playing at a 99.9% return - also known as a losing gamble.

Well, the charts on our site are on roughly accurate to within 0.1% of perfect play. So, if you find that game that returns 100.5%, you would be actually earning about 100.4% with our charts - not too bad. Not many charts get much closer than 0.1% because they would have to be extremely long and complicated to explain the subtle differences in rare hands.

Video Poker Strategy Software

There are quite a few programs out there than can develop custom strategy charts for all kinds of games with various pay tables. We have reviewed quite a few of these programs, here are links to our reviews:

On this page I've devised what I believe to be the perfect strategy for playing Jacks or Better video poker. By using the charts on this page you can achieve a payout percentage of 99.54% at full pay video poker, which is the highest mathematical return I've been able to achieve. Please keep in mind that this strategy was created for full pay Jacks or Better games. Here is an example of a full pay Jacks or Better pay table:

The pay table above assumes you're betting five coins per hand. If you bet less than five coins per hand the royal flush will pay out less, and your return will go down. Also, if you're playing one of the other Jacks or Better pay tables this strategy will still be good, but not perfect.

Beginner Jacks or Better Strategy

If you want to play with decent strategy and increase your odds without following the full chart below, you should follow the rules listed here. We've identified the most troublesome hands for new players, and advised the correct move for each hand. To use this strategy, play your normal game and make the easy decisions, and if you come upon a tough decision refer to the rules below.

Here is how you should use the chart below:

1. Find your trouble hand on the chart.
2. Follow the chart's recommendation.

Example: Imagine you have Kc-Qc-Jc-Tc-9c. In this case you have a straight flush, but you also have a royal flush draw. By looking at the chart below, you'll see that a straight flush is better than a royal flush draw, so make sure to keep the straight flush and take your payout.

• Royal Flush Draw vs. Pat Straight Flush » Keep the Straight Flush
• Royal Flush Draw vs. Pat Flush » Keep the Royal Flush Draw
• Pat Straight vs. Four to a Straight Flush » Keep the Straight
• Open Four to a Straight Flush vs. Two Pair » Keep the Four to a Straight Flush
• Inside Four to a Straight Flush vs. Two Pair » Keep the Two Pair
• Four to a Straight Flush vs. High Pair » Keep the Four to a Straight Flush
• High Pair (Jacks or Better) vs. Four to a Flush » Keep the High Pair
• Four to a Flush vs. Four to a Straight » Keep the Four to a Flush
• High Pair (Jacks or Better) vs. Open Four to Straight » Keep the High Pair
• Low Pair (Twos - Tens) vs. Open Four to a Straight » Keep the Low Pair
• Inside Straight Draw vs. Discard All » Keep the Straight Draw

Expert Jacks or Better Strategy

Here is how you should use the chart below:

1. Start at the top of the chart and work down.
2. When you see a hand that matches up with yours, follow that strategy.

Example: Imagine you have Qs-Js-Ts-3s-Jh. In this case, you'd match up with a few rows on the table below. Your hand would qualify for a high pair of Jacks, a Q-J-T suited with one penalty (the other Jack is a penalty card), and four to a flush. However, on the table you'll notice that Q-J-T suited with one penalty is higher than a four flush or a pair, so you should keep the Q-J-T suited and ditch the four flush and pair.

Jacks or Better Full Strategy Chart

Here are the ranks for every possible Jacks or Better hand you can hold before the draw. Remember, find the highest match on the list for your hand and hold those cards. The middle column shows the expected return for the specific hand. In the example column, h = Hearts, s = Spades, c = Clubs, d = Diamonds, T = Ten, s = Suited.

Video Blackjack Odds Chart Full

*Penalty cards are any cards which you plan to discard that hurt your chances of completing a draw. For example, if you have 7c-9c-Jc-8s-5h and plan to keep the 7c-9c-Jc, the 8s that you're discarding actually hurts you because there is one less card in the deck that completes your straight. However, it still makes sense to discard the 8s because you have better expected return going for the straight flush than to draw to the inside straight.

Video Poker Strategy Free

Straight (St.) penalty cards mean cards that interfere w/ a hand's possibility of making a straight. Flush penalty cards mean cards that interfere w/ a hand's possibility of making a flush. High Pair (HP) penalty cards mean cards that interfere w/ a hand's possibility of making a high pair (a pair Jacks or better).