Free Video Poker Basic Strategy Guide

The strategy cards presented on this website are aimed at maximizing your hands to receive an expected return (ER) percentage over long term play; this is the Video Poker basic strategy. The expected return is the percentage of money you will win or loose over long term play. It's important to note they rely on playing with the full bet, usually 5 coins, and include the bonus for a royal flush. An example of this is if you're playing Jacks or Better its common for the Royal Flush to pay 250 coins plus a bonus of 4000 coins. Of course it will take some time to get that royal flush, for the professional Video Poker player it might take weeks, for the occasional player it might take years. Remembering a professional is probably playing 500-1000 Video Poker hands an hour, and a royal flush is roughly dealt once in 40000 hands using the basic strategy cards. So if you're learning and only playing 100 or so hand an hour a few nights a week, it will take some time.

Pay tables are typically compared by looking at their ER values. The benchmark ER is roughly 100% so a full pay Video Poker game is one which has an ER close to 100%. Ideally these are the Video Poker machines you want to play; otherwise you're already behind in the stakes. Since it isn't particularly easy calculating the return on each winning hand, each game has its own typical quick comparison ratio for comparing pay tables. An example, for Jacks or Better the full pay ratio is 9/6 which is the ratio of coins paid back on a full house to flush which over all would return 99.5%. Remembering that to see the 99.5% return you have to look over the long term, any one session your returns will vary.

Video Poker Strategy cards are a list off different hands dealt initially and what cards you should hold to maximize your ER. They work on the principle of what hand is probable from your initial cards and what you will receive back in winnings. The pay table and therefore the payout will effect what is the best strategy to take on any hand. The strategy cards on this website will be aimed at full pay Video Poker machines. To read a strategy card you start at the top and move down till your hand is shown. If you none of the hands match yours you redraw. Using the Jacks Better Strategy Card if you were dealt 3, 4, 5, 7 and a K, all of varying suites you would move down the table and see your hand at item 20. So you would go for the straight as none of the combinations above much your cards.