Video Poker Strategy
The most played video poker game, and one of the most beatable. Here is the exact optimal strategy, every play ranked by expected value straight from the engine.
Hold the highest thing on the list below your hand can make, and always play five coins. Perfect play gives up only 46 cents per 100 dollars cycled.
| Hand | Per coin | Max (5 coins) |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 4,000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 125 |
| Full House | 9 | 45 |
| Flush | 6 | 30 |
| Straight | 4 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 10 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 5 |
This is the complete 9/6 Jacks or Better strategy chart, our cheat sheet with every play ranked by expected value.
Look at your dealt hand, find the highest entry here you can make, and hold exactly those cards. The number is the expected value per coin of that play, computed by the engine.
The royal flush pays 250 per coin on one through four coins, then jumps to 800 per coin (4,000 total) on the fifth. That single bonus is worth about 1.5 percent of return. Bet within your bankroll, but always bet max coins.
Reading strategy is not playing it. The free trainer deals real Jacks or Better hands, grades every hold against this exact strategy, and shows the precise expected value you give up on a mistake.
Open the trainer →This is the reference game. Learn it first; every other game is a variation on this order. Look for the full-pay "9/6" version, where the full house pays 9 and the flush 6. Short-pay tables (8/5, 7/5, 6/5) keep the same strategy but return less; see the pay tables guide. We cover the two common short pays in detail: 9/5 Jacks or Better (98.45%) and 8/5 Jacks or Better (97.30%), including engine tests of whether strategy changes.