Video Poker Comparison
Return tells you where a game lands in the long run. Variance tells you how rough the ride is getting there. Two games with nearly identical returns can feel completely different to play, and this site has enough games now, all computed by the same engine, to actually show that side by side instead of asking you to take it on faith.
Sorted by return, highest first. Variance and standard deviation are per coin bet, per hand, at optimal play — the same figures behind the return calculator and the bankroll calculator.
| Game | Return | Variance | SD/hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-Pay Deuces Wild | 100.76% | 25.84 | 5.08 |
| Full-Pay Joker Poker | 100.65% | 26.24 | 5.12 |
| 10/7 Double Bonus | 100.17% | 28.26 | 5.32 |
| Aces and Eights (full pay) | 99.78% | 21.73 | 4.66 |
| Super Double Bonus (9/5) | 99.69% | 37.95 | 6.16 |
| Bonus Poker Deluxe (9/6) | 99.64% | 32.13 | 5.67 |
| All American (35/8) | 99.60% | 26.47 | 5.14 |
| Triple Double Bonus (9/7) | 99.58% | 98.28 | 9.91 |
| 9/6 Jacks or Better | 99.54% | 19.51 | 4.42 |
| 8/5 Bonus Poker | 99.17% | 20.90 | 4.57 |
| 9/6 Double Double Bonus | 98.98% | 41.98 | 6.48 |
| 9/5 Jacks or Better | 98.45% | 19.50 | 4.42 |
| 9/5 Double Double Bonus | 97.87% | 42.17 | 6.49 |
| 8/5 Jacks or Better | 97.30% | 19.32 | 4.40 |
Look at Aces and Eights next to the other bonus-quad games. Its variance (21.73) is barely above Jacks or Better's (19.51) — far steadier than every other bonus-quad game here — while its return (99.78%) beats every one of them except 10/7 Double Bonus, which returns slightly more (100.17%) but with meaningfully higher variance (28.26). Super Double Bonus and Bonus Poker Deluxe both return less than Aces and Eights while carrying noticeably more variance (37.95 and 32.13). If the goal is "high return without a much bumpier ride than Jacks or Better," Aces and Eights is the strongest case on this site.
Triple Double Bonus's variance, 98.28, is roughly five times 9/6 Jacks or Better's 19.51 — and its return, 99.58%, is barely different from Jacks or Better's 99.54%. That extra risk buys almost nothing in the long-run number; what it buys is a much wider spread of outcomes, driven by the kicker-quad bonus that can pay as much as a royal flush. If a steady, predictable session matters to you, this is the one game on this site where the pay table's headline number (the return) tells you almost nothing about what a session actually feels like. See the exact math behind why in the variance breakdown.
It's a common assumption that Deuces Wild and Joker Poker, with actual wild cards in the deck, must be the most volatile games around. They aren't. Both sit at variance around 26, squarely in the middle of the pack, below Super Double Bonus, Bonus Poker Deluxe, Double Double Bonus, and dramatically below Triple Double Bonus. The wild card changes which hands are possible; it doesn't automatically widen the spread of outcomes the way a big kicker-quad bonus does.
Return tells you the destination; variance tells you the road. If your bankroll is small relative to your bet size, prefer the lower-variance end of this table (Jacks or Better family, Aces and Eights) so a cold streak doesn't end your session early — run the exact numbers for your own bankroll in the bankroll calculator. If you have the bankroll to ride out bigger swings and want a shot at rarer, larger wins, the higher-variance games (Triple Double Bonus, Double Double Bonus, Super Double Bonus) offer that, without necessarily costing you return. Neither choice is wrong; they're different bets on the same underlying math.
Every return and variance figure above comes from the same exact engine: every possible five-card deal is scored under optimal play, using the same inclusion-exclusion technique behind the return calculator, with the Joker Poker figures additionally validated over its 53-card, 2,869,685-hand universe. Nothing here is simulated or approximated. See the methodology page for the full explanation.
Pick a game from the table and learn its exact strategy on the strategy hub, then practice it in the trainer. Not sure where to start? Best games ranked by return is the simpler version of this page; this one adds the variance half of the picture.
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