Video Poker Strategy

Whenever looking at video poker strategy trainers, be sure to check the math for yourself. Our information is meant for entertainment only. If you’re playing for real money then be sure to do your own math!

We like to look at video poker hands in Jacks or Better by expected value of coins returned (EV).

These EV numbers are based on the following payouts from 5 coins:
Royal Flush: 4000, Straight Flush: 250, Four of a Kind: 125, Full House: 30, Flush: 25, Straight: 20, Three of a Kind: 15, Two pair: 10, Jacks or Better: 5

Jacks or Better Strategy (for entertainment only, check your own math for real money)
hint: look up all the ways to play an initial hand and choose the one which is highest on the list.
EV – hand
4,000 – royal flush – example: Ac Kc Qc Jc Tc
250 – straight flush – example: Ac 2c 3c 4c 5c
125 – four of a kind – example: 7c 7d 7h 7s Ac
98 – four to a royal flush – example: Kc Qc Jc Tc Kd (discarding Kd)
30 – full house – example: 8c 8d 8s 9c 9d
25 – flush – example: 2c 3c 7c Jc Kc
21 – three of a kind – example: Qc Qd Qh 3c 4s (discarding 3c 4s)
20 – straight – example: 6d 7h 8c 9h Ts
17 – four to a straight flush with 2 outs (ev is more like 11 with 1 out) – example: 7c 8c 9c Tc (discarding 7d)
12 – two pair – example: Jc Jd 5c 5d 2s (discarding 2s)
8 – high pair – example: Jc Jd 3c 6d 7h (discarding 3c 6d 7h)
7 – three to a royal flush with MAX coins – example: Tc Jc Qc 7d 2d (discarding 7d 2d)
5 – four to a flush – example: Kc Tc 7c 4c 2d (discarding 2d)
4 – low pair – example: 5c 5d Kd 9h 4s (discarding Kd 9h 4s)
3 – four to an outside straight – example: 8s 7s 6h 5h 2c (discarding 2c)
two suited high cards
three to a straight flush
two unsuited high cards (if more than 2 then pick the lowest 2)
suited TJ, TQ, or TK
one high card
discard everything

*Based on 5 coins so an ev of 5 or more is positive.

EXAMPLE 1 – Throwing away a pair.

Suppose I am playing Jacks or Better at Cool Cat and I always use five coins to get the max payout for a Royal Flush.

Suppose I’ve inserted 5 coins and I get: Ac Kc Qc Jc Jd

A. If we keep Jc Jd and discard Ac Kc Qc then we’re guaranteed 5 coins for the pair of Jacks or Better. We might also improve to Four of a Kind, Full House, Three of a Kind or Two Pairs.

This means we have a 100% option for 5 coins or 1*5 or an expected value of 5 coins if we keep the jacks plus the expected value of Four of a Kind, Full House, Three of a Kind or Two Pairs. Even with all these possibilities, our total expected value is under 10.

B. If we discard the Jd then we can get the following:
Royal Flush: 4000 coins
Flush: 25 coins
Straight: 20 coins
Pair of Jacks or Better: 5 coins

Royal Flush means the Tc. That is one card out of the remaining 47.
(1/47)*4000=85.11

Flush normally means 9 clubs. The ten of clubs gives us the Royal Flush above so we count 8.
(8/47)*25=4.26

Straight means the 3 tens that are not the ten of clubs.
(3/47)*20=1.28

Pair of Jacks or Better means 3 Aces + 3 Kings + 3 Queens + 2 Jacks (we discarded the Jack of Diamonds)
(11/47)*5=1.17

So we have an expected value under 10 if we keep the pair of jacks and throw away the ace, king and queen.

Discarding the Jack of Diamonds gives us an expected value of 91.82.

This is not close, our math says discarding the Jack of Diamonds is the right play here.

EXAMPLE 2 – Throwing away a straight.

Again, we input max coins at Cool Cat and we’re dealt Ac Kc Qc Jc Td: We have a straight, do we throw away the Td to go for a Royal Flush or a flush?

A. Stand Pat. ev = 20

B. Discard the Td and draw a card. ev = Royal Flush draw plus regular flush draw plus straight redraw plus Jack or Better pair redraw.

The Royal Flush expected value is:
= 4000(1/47)
= 85.11

We don’t even need to add up the expected values for the other possibilities, our math tells us to throw away the ten of diamonds.

EXAMPLE 3 – Throwing away a flush.

Once again we have inserted the maximum of 5 coins. We are dealt Ac Kc Qc Jc 2c – a flush! Do we keep our cards (stand pat) or draw for the Royal Flush?

If we stand pat, our EV is 25 Coins according to the chart below. In other words, we will win 25 Coins 100% of the time.

However, the EV of discarding the 2c and hoping for the Tc is 85.11 coins.

4000 Coin Royal Flush Payout * (1 Ten of Clubs/47 Card Remaining) = 85.11 Coins.

We also have additional EV components of a regular flush, a regular straight or a pair of AA, KK, QQ or JJ. Still, these additional components are small compared to the Royal Flush EV.

Because the long run EV of chasing the Royal Flush is higher than keeping the standard flush, our math says to discard the 2c. Good luck!

EXAMPLE 4 – We Hold Two-Pair with 60% to a Royal Flush.

Suppose we are dealt Ac Kc Qc Kd Qd.  This two-pair with possibilities to draw to a straight, a flush, a full house, or a royal flush creates a difficult decision for any uneducated video poker player.  Let’s examine the expected value of some possible options.

Option 1: We hold Kc Qc Kd and Qd for a guaranteed two-pair.  Here are the expected value calculations.

Option 2: We hold Ac Kc Qc. This throws away our two-pair but gives us draws to a straight, a flush, a straight flush, or a royal flush. Here are the expected value calculations.

As illustrated by the preceding tables, we should hold our two-pair. The expected values are not close at all and holding the two-pair is the best decision by a lot.

EXAMPLE 5 – We Hold Three-of-a-Kind with 60% to a Royal Flush

Suppose we are dealt Ac Kc Qc Qd Qh.  This example is similar to the last example in that we are again faced with the decision of throwing away our made hand to draw to a royal flush.

Option 1: Hold Qc Qd Qh for a made three-of-a-kind with draws to a full house and four-of-a-kind.  Here are the expected value calculations.

Option 2: Hold Ac Kc Qc to throw away our three-of-a-kind and draw to a straight, flush, or royal flush.

The expected value difference is quite big.  This decision is quite easy; the three-of-a-kind should be kept.

Here are the Jacks or Better payouts for Cool Cat Casino:

This strategy trainer information is for entertainment only. Always do your own math when playing for real money!