Video Poker Strategy in General

4 June 2023

By John Grochowski

Game-specific strategies for video poker have been a staple for as long as I've been writing about casino games, but every now and then I get a request to pull back a little.

One such request came via email from Marie, who said she sticks to slots but that her sister Lynn had started taking an occasional video poker flutter.

"Isn't there ANYTHING you can say about strategy for a beginner?' Marie asked. "Lynn doesn't know the difference between all these games. I tried looking up your strategy tips, and it's all this game and that game. What if you're playing for fun and the game doesn't matter?"

That question is more difficult than it sounds. Best strategies for video poker are driven by game type and pay table.

What basics are there for a player who wants to have fun playing but isn't much interested in wringing every last tenth of a percent out of a game?

A few things pop into mind, and I'll keep them as number-free as I can for beginners looking for nothing more than get-started guidelines.

• Pay enough attention to the games that you know whether wild cards are in play. General strategy tips that apply to games with no wild cards do not apply to Deuces Wild.


• Assuming no wild cards with two Jacks as the lowest hand that pays, hold low pairs instead of single high cards -- Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces.

It's really tempting to hold one card that becomes a winner just by pairing it on the draw. You will have more paying hands if, for example, you hold a Queen instead of a pair of 6s.

However, you'll draw more high-paying hands if you hold the low pair. The average return per hand is higher if you hold the low pair.

• Also in non-wild card games, it's almost always best to hold two pairs even if one pair is a paying hand by itself.

In many games, two pairs pay the same 1-for-1 as pairs of Jacks or better. Beginners come to the natural conclusion that it's better to start with the guaranteed pay on the high pair while keeping open the chance to draw two matching cards for four of a kind.

Logical, right? However, completing a full house when you hold both pairs happens A LOT more often than completing the quads when holding only one pair. The average return is higher when you hold both pairs.

• If you must play Deuces Wild, never discard a 2.

There's temptation if you're dealt four high cards of the same suit plus a 2 for a royal flush with wild cards. That's usually a 125-coin pay for a five-coin bet. Should you go for the big one, discard the 2 and hope for a natural royal for a 4,000-coin jackpot?

The short answer is no, you shouldn't. The payoff on the wild royal is higher than the average return if you discard the 2. It's best to hold every deuce you get in Deuces Wild.

• Assuming a five-coin maximum bet, never bet four.

Video poker pay tables almost always have a huge jump in the payoff on royal flushes when you bet a fifth coin. Average losses are actually higher when you bet four coins than when you invest that fifth coin.

If you can't afford to bet the maximum then bet one coin, with the understanding your payback percentage is lower than when you bet five. But when you bet four coins, you still get the lower percentage and give the house its maximum profit. It's far better to risk that fifth coin.