Bits & Odds

Video Poker

Unlike a scratcher, video poker rewards decisions: the same hand played two ways has two different expected values, and the paytable printed on the machine decides which. We computed every hand probability and the optimal-play expected value for 30 Jacks or Better paytables.

Paytables by expected value

PaytablePayout stringEV at optimal play
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 976-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 976-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 100.0000%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 800-90-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 800-90-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 99.9962%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 940-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 940-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 99.9030%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 900-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 900-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 99.7982%
Jacks or Better 8/5 - paytable 800-50-35-8-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-35-8-5-4-3-2-1 99.6613%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 800-40-20-9-6-5-3-2-1 800-40-20-9-6-5-3-2-1 99.5599%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 800-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 800-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 99.5439%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 800-47.8-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 800-47.8-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 99.5199%
Jacks or Better 8/6 - paytable 800-50-29-8-6-4-3-2-1 800-50-29-8-6-4-3-2-1 99.3377%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 500-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 500-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 98.8793%
Jacks or Better 8/6 - paytable 800-50-26-8-6-4-3-2-1 800-50-26-8-6-4-3-2-1 98.6289%
Jacks or Better 9/5 - paytable 800-55-25-9-5-4-3-2-1 800-55-25-9-5-4-3-2-1 98.5038%
Jacks or Better 8/5 - paytable 800-50-30-8-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-30-8-5-4-3-2-1 98.4799%
Jacks or Better 9/5 - paytable 800-50-25-9-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-25-9-5-4-3-2-1 98.4498%
Jacks or Better 8/6 - paytable 800-55-25-8-6-4-3-2-1 800-55-25-8-6-4-3-2-1 98.4473%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 250-55-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 250-55-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 98.4264%
Jacks or Better 8/6 - paytable 800-50-25-8-6-4-3-2-1 800-50-25-8-6-4-3-2-1 98.3927%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 250-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 250-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1 98.3735%
Jacks or Better 6/5 - paytable 800-50-35-6-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-35-6-5-4-3-2-1 97.3586%
Jacks or Better 8/5 - paytable 800-55-25-8-5-4-3-2-1 800-55-25-8-5-4-3-2-1 97.3525%
Jacks or Better 8/5 Bovada - paytable 800-50-25-8-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-25-8-5-4-3-2-1 97.2984%
Jacks or Better 7/5 - paytable 800-50-25-7-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-25-7-5-4-3-2-1 96.1472%
Jacks or Better 6/5 - paytable 1000-50-25-6-5-4-3-2-1 1000-50-25-6-5-4-3-2-1 95.5116%
Jacks or Better 7/5 - paytable 1000-50-20-7-5-4-3-2-1 1000-50-20-7-5-4-3-2-1 95.4828%
Jacks or Better 6/5 - paytable 800-50-25-6-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-25-6-5-4-3-2-1 94.9961%
Jacks or Better 7/5 - paytable 800-50-20-7-5-4-3-2-1 800-50-20-7-5-4-3-2-1 94.9661%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 1000-125-30-9-6-4-2-2-1 1000-125-30-9-6-4-2-2-1 94.7760%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 1000-100-30-9-6-4-2-2-1 1000-100-30-9-6-4-2-2-1 94.4355%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 500-100-30-9-6-4-2-2-1 500-100-30-9-6-4-2-2-1 93.2047%
Jacks or Better 9/6 - paytable 800-50-25-9-6-4-3-1-1 800-50-25-9-6-4-3-1-1 86.7072%

The spread between the best and worst paytable here is 13.29 percentage points of every dollar wagered. On a machine you play for an hour that is the difference between a cheap evening and an expensive one, and it is printed on the glass before you sit down.

Hand analyzer

Pick five cards and a paytable and we will tell you exactly which cards to hold and what that play is worth, from a precomputed table of every distinct hand under optimal play.

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