A Video Poker Quiz

29 January 2022

By Jerry Stickman

It is time for another exercise in video poker strategy. Periodically, sample video poker hands will be presented to test your mastery of video poker strategy.

Today’s hands are for a full-pay (9/6 or 9-for-1 for a full house and 6-for-1 for a flush) Jacks or Better. They also assume that the maximum five credits are bet.

Hand number one: Qh Ks 8h As 9h

How would you play it?

While there are many possible holds, this hand really has only two holds worth considering:

1. Three cards of an inside straight flush with two gaps (Qh 8h 9h).
2. Two cards of a royal flush (Ks As).

The returns for these holds are as follows:

1. If you choose to hold the queen, 8, and 9 of hearts, your average return is 2.68 credits on the five credits wagered.
2. If, on the other hand you hold the king and ace of spades the average return is 2.88 credits with five credits bet.

With this hand, your best bet is to go for the royal flush and hold the (Ks As).

Hand number two: Td 2c 5c Ac Jd

This hand is very similar to the first hand. While there are many possible holds, there are really only two holds worth considering:

1. You can hold three cards of an inside straight flush with two gaps (2c 5c Ac) – or –
2. You can hold the two cards of a royal flush (Td Jd).

Here are the results of those two holds:

1. Holding the three cards of an inside straight flush with two gaps (2c 5c Ac) returns an average of 2.70 credits for the five credits wagered.
2. Holding the two cards of a royal flush (Td Jd) returns an average of 2.52 credits for five credits bet.

For this hand, the proper play is to go for the straight flush in clubs.

Even with very similar initial hands, the holds for the above two hands are different.

Would you have played these hands properly?

As always, may all your wins be swift and large, and your losses be slow and small.

Jerry “Stickman”

Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack and video poker and advantage slot machine play. He is a regular contributor to top gaming magazines. He authored the video poker section of Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, and Pai Gow Poker! You can contact Jerry “Stickman” at stickmanjerryg@gmail.com