Unlike most casino games, video poker rewards skill: which cards you hold changes your expected return. A good strategy cannot remove the house edge, but it can bring it well below that of most slots and table games. These are the five strategies that matter most, and they all work on a phone screen.
Strategy 1: play the maximum coins
Many video poker games pay a bonus on a royal flush only when you bet the maximum number of coins, usually five. On a 9/6 Jacks or Better table, a royal pays 800 coins per coin at max bet against 250 per coin below it. That bonus is part of the game's advertised return, so betting less than the maximum lowers your RTP. On progressive games, where the jackpot grows with every hand, the max bet is usually required to win it.
The catch is cost: five coins per hand means a bigger budget. If max coins at your chosen coin size is too much, choose a smaller coin size rather than fewer coins.
The royal-flush bonus multiplies the per-coin royal pay. Five coins at 800 per coin return 4,000 coins. One coin at the short royal pay of 250 returns 250 coins. The published return assumes the maximum coin count because of that gap. A smaller coin value keeps the same multiplier. The hand still costs five coins. Each coin is worth less, so the session stake falls without dropping the royal schedule.
A progressive meter adds a growing top prize on top of the fixed royal. The meter usually pays only when the bet is the maximum number of coins. Four coins keep the lower fixed royal and miss the meter.
Strategy 2: read the pay table
Every video poker game shows a pay table: what each hand pays per coin. Two games with the same name can have different tables, and that difference sets the house edge.
In Jacks or Better, look for 9/6: 9 coins for a full house and 6 for a flush. With perfect strategy it has a house edge of 0.46%. Avoid 8/6 and 9/5 tables, which pay a coin less on one of those hands and carry a higher edge.
Pay tables differ from game to game, even at the same casino. Check the table before you play and pick the one with the best payouts. Many games also show the expected return in the help screen, so you can compare directly.
The two numbers in a 9/6 label are the full-house pay and the flush pay, in coins for each coin wagered. A full house is three of a kind plus a pair. A flush is five cards of one suit. Those hands appear often enough that one missing coin on either of them moves the long-run return by more than the royal does. An 8/6 table pays eight for the full house and six for the flush. A 9/5 table pays nine for the full house and five for the flush. Both sit below 9/6 under the same game name.
The return figure in the help screen is the average result of the published chart. It is not a promise for one session. Read it before the first coin, because two lobbies can list Jacks or Better with different schedules. Video poker sits beside other five-card games in a mobile lobby. The poker variations page places video poker next to Hold'em, Three Card Poker and Caribbean Stud, which use different betting rounds and do not use a video-poker hold chart.
Strategy 3: use a strategy chart
A strategy chart tells you which cards to hold and which to discard for every possible hand. Charts are built from the maths of each game, and there are separate ones for Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, Double Bonus and other variants. On a phone, keep the chart open in a second tab or use the game's own hold hints where it has them.
Licensed mobile casinos carry video poker from studios such as Microgaming, Playtech and NetEnt. The house edge of Microgaming's versions with perfect play:
| Game | House edge |
|---|---|
| Jacks or Better | 0.46% |
| All American | 0.62% |
| Aces & Eights | 0.91% |
| Deuces & Joker | 0.93% |
| Deuces Wild | 3.23% |
Learn the hand rankings first. In Jacks or Better the lowest paying hand is a pair of jacks or better. Aces & Eights pays extra for four aces or four eights, which is why its pay table, and its strategy, differ. A chart takes practice, but it is the step that brings the edge down to the figures above.
The chart ranks each hold by expected return. Expected return is the average payout of the cards that can fill the empty slots, weighted by how many of those cards remain in the deck. A pair of jacks already pays. Keeping a side card with that pair uses up one draw slot and often lowers the chance of three of a kind. The chart drops the side card in that spot. Breaking a made flush to chase a royal is the same kind of sum. The royal is rare, and the flush pay is already in the hand, so the chart usually keeps the flush.
Practice on the lowest coin value that still bets five coins. The holds stay the same at every coin value. Only the cash value of a coin changes. Open the chart for the variant on the screen. Deuces Wild treats twos as wild cards. Double Bonus raises the four-of-a-kind pays. A Jacks or Better chart gives the wrong hold on both of those games.
Strategy 4: manage your bankroll
Set a budget for each session and keep to it. Only play with money you can afford to lose, and never chase losses.
A common mistake is betting too much of your budget on each hand. Video poker swings: most of its return comes from rare hands such as four of a kind and the royal flush, so long dry spells are normal. Bet a small share of your budget per hand so you can ride them out. Our bankroll management guide shows how to size it.
A session budget is a cash amount chosen before the lobby opens. The stake per hand is a slice of that amount. Rare hands carry most of the long-run return, so a stretch of pairs and losing draws is the ordinary path between full houses and four of a kind. A stake that takes a large slice of the budget ends the session during that stretch, before those rare hands appear. A small slice keeps the same chart and the same pay table in play for more hands.
Stop adding funds when the budget reaches zero. A new deposit in the same sitting is a new budget. It belongs in a later session, with the loss limit written down again.
Strategy 5: know when to walk away
It is easy to keep playing when you are behind, and chasing losses is the quickest way to empty a balance. Set a loss limit and a win target before you start. When you hit either, stop. You lose only what you planned to, and you keep your winnings instead of giving them back.
Take regular breaks too. Long sessions lead to tired, poor holds, and on a phone it is easy to play hand after hand without noticing the time. Use the casino's reality checks and session limits.
A loss limit is the session budget. A win target is a balance above the starting amount. Either figure ends the session when the balance crosses it. The win target exists so the surplus from a rare hand leaves with the player. Further hands put that surplus back through the same house edge.
A reality check is a timed message from the casino. It reports how long the session has run. A session limit closes the game after a set number of minutes. Use both on a phone, where the next-hand control sits under the thumb and the clock is easy to miss.
Common video poker mistakes
- Holding by instinct: keeping a kicker with a pair, or breaking a made hand to chase a straight, costs more than it looks. Follow the chart.
- Poor bankroll management: raising stakes to win back losses, or betting too large a share per hand.
- Playing short-pay tables: a game with a weak pay table can have several times the edge of a full-pay version. Check the table every time.
- Betting fewer than max coins: on games with a royal bonus, it lowers your return.
