Video poker sits between slots and table games. It looks like a slot machine and plays on its own, but you make real decisions, and those decisions change how much you get back. It’s also one of the few casino games where the maths is completely open: one deck, 52 cards, and a paytable on the screen.
This guide covers how a hand works, the hand rankings, how often each starting hand appears, and the odds of the draws you’ll face most. All the numbers are worked out from a standard 52-card deck.
How a hand works
Evolution’s First Person Video Poker is a good example of the standard format. In its words, “the objective of the game is to make the best possible five-card hand.” A round goes like this:
- Bet. You “choose your paytable, bet per hand and the number of hands you would like to play with.”
- Deal. You receive five cards.
- Hold. “Choose which of the five cards you wish to hold and which to swap. You may hold from zero to five cards.” Evolution adds: “If no cards have been held, a default decision is made on your behalf.”
- Draw. The cards you didn’t hold are replaced. Evolution says they are “randomly picked from a virtual deck that contains the remaining 47 cards.”
- Pay. Your final hand is paid by the paytable.
There’s no dealer hand to beat and no other players. It’s just you, the deck and the paytable.
Multi-hand play
Evolution’s version lets you “purchase up to 99 extra hands per game round”, to a maximum of 100 hands. Every extra hand keeps the cards you held, and the rest of each hand is drawn separately, so the same hold decision is played out many times at once. It doesn’t change the odds per hand, but it multiplies your stake: 10 hands at ₹20 is ₹200 a round.
Paytables
Evolution lists five paytables: “Jacks or Better, Tens or Better, Deuces Wild, Bonus Poker, Double Double Bonus”. Jacks or Better is the default and the classic starting point. The others change which hands pay and how much. Deuces Wild, for instance, makes every 2 a wild card, which changes the hand odds completely. The rest of this guide uses Jacks or Better.
Hand rankings (Jacks or Better)
From highest to lowest:
| Hand | Example |
|---|---|
| Royal Flush | A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠ |
| Straight Flush | 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥ |
| Four of a Kind | 7♣ 7♦ 7♥ 7♠ K♦ |
| Full House | Q♠ Q♦ Q♣ 4♥ 4♠ |
| Flush | A♦ J♦ 8♦ 5♦ 2♦ |
| Straight | 10♣ 9♦ 8♠ 7♥ 6♣ |
| Three of a Kind | 5♠ 5♥ 5♦ K♣ 2♠ |
| Two Pair | J♥ J♣ 3♦ 3♠ 9♥ |
| Jacks or Better | K♥ K♠ 8♦ 6♣ 2♥ |
A pair of 10s or lower pays nothing in Jacks or Better. On a Tens or Better paytable, a pair of 10s also pays.
How often each hand is dealt
This is the chance of each hand in your first five cards, before you hold or draw. It’s our calculation: we counted every one of the 2,598,960 possible five-card deals from a 52-card deck.
| Hand on the deal | Number of deals | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 4 | 0.00015% (1 in 649,740) |
| Straight Flush | 36 | 0.0014% |
| Four of a Kind | 624 | 0.024% |
| Full House | 3,744 | 0.144% |
| Flush | 5,108 | 0.197% |
| Straight | 10,200 | 0.392% |
| Three of a Kind | 54,912 | 2.11% |
| Two Pair | 123,552 | 4.75% |
| Pair of Jacks or better | 337,920 | 13.00% |
| Pair of 10s or lower | 760,320 | 29.25% |
| No pair or better | 1,302,540 | 50.12% |
About one deal in five (20.6%, adding up the paying rows from Royal Flush to Jacks or better) already pays something before you draw. The draw is where the rest of your wins come from, which is why hold decisions matter.
Odds on the draw
After the deal, 47 cards remain. These are the chances for common holds. All figures are our calculation from the 47 unseen cards (we assume the cards you discard are not of a kind that would affect the result).
Drawing one card
| You hold | Outs | Chance of completing |
|---|---|---|
| Two Pair (draw 1) | 4 cards make a Full House | 8.51% |
| Four to a Flush | 9 cards of the suit | 19.15% |
| Open-ended Straight (e.g. 5-6-7-8) | 8 cards (any 4 or 9) | 17.02% |
| Inside Straight (e.g. 5-6-7-9) | 4 cards (any 8) | 8.51% |
| Four to a Royal Flush | 1 card | 2.13% |
With four to a Royal (say 10♠ J♠ Q♠ K♠), the draw also gives other paying hands: another spade for a Flush (7 cards, 14.89%), the 9♠ for a Straight Flush (2.13%), any other Ace or 9 for a Straight (6 cards, 12.77%), and any J, Q or K for a high pair (9 cards, 19.15%).
Drawing to a pair or trips
| You hold | Result after the draw | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| A pair of Jacks (draw 3) | Still one pair | 71.29% |
| Two Pair | 15.99% | |
| Three of a Kind | 11.43% | |
| Full House | 1.02% | |
| Four of a Kind | 0.28% | |
| Three of a Kind (draw 2) | Still Three of a Kind | 89.64% |
| Full House | 6.11% | |
| Four of a Kind | 4.26% |
Holding a high pair never loses, as you keep the pair at worst, and improves the hand about 28.7% of the time.
Reading a paytable
The paytable is the most important screen in the game, because it sets the return. Two Jacks or Better machines can deal the same cards yet return different amounts if one pays less for a Full House or a Flush. Paytables are often described by those two numbers (“9/6” means 9 for a Full House and 6 for a Flush per coin).
Evolution’s game page doesn’t publish its paytables or an RTP, so open the paytable in the game before you play and compare it with other versions. Our RTP and volatility explainer covers how the return figure works over the long run.
Hold decisions: a few clear rules
Full video poker strategy runs to dozens of lines and depends on the paytable. A few decisions are clear from the numbers above:
- Keep paying hands in most cases. A dealt Straight, Flush or better already pays. Strategy charts make exceptions for strong draws such as four to a Royal Flush, and the exact exceptions depend on the paytable.
- Hold a high pair. It already pays, and it improves about 28.7% of the time.
- Two Pair: hold both pairs. Draw one card for an 8.51% chance at a Full House.
- Prefer an open-ended straight draw to an inside one. It has twice the outs (8 versus 4).
- Don’t hold a kicker with a pair. Keeping an extra high card next to a pair takes away a card you could have drawn for trips or two pair.
When in doubt, the hold with more ways to reach a paying hand is usually the better one. Evolution’s default decision applies only if you hold nothing; making your own holds is the whole point of the game.
Video poker and bonuses
Video poker usually counts for little towards wagering. From the bonus terms in our reviews:
| Casino | Video poker contribution |
|---|---|
| Oshi | 5% |
| Playfina | 5% |
| Gunsbet | 5% |
| Galactic Wins | 8% |
| Cosmoswin | 0% |
At 5%, ₹100 bet on video poker clears only ₹5 of a wagering requirement. Our wagering requirements guide shows how much play that adds up to.
Where to play video poker
These reviewed casinos list INR and have video poker in their game types, according to our casino data:
| Casino | INR | UPI | From our data |
|---|---|---|---|
| BC.Game | Yes | Yes | Video poker among BC Originals |
| V.Vegas | Yes | Yes | Video poker listed among game types |
| TrustDice | Yes | Yes | Video poker listed among game types |
| Crocoslots | Yes | No | Video poker listed among game types |
| The Clubhouse Casino | Yes | Yes | Video poker listed among game types |
| SlotyStake | Yes | No | Video poker listed among game types |
Lobbies change, so search for “video poker” or “Jacks or Better” at the casino first. If you like poker hands but prefer a live dealer, see our Teen Patti hand rankings and odds and the blackjack guide, another game where your choices count.
Play within limits
Good holds reduce the house edge but don’t remove it, and multi-hand play can multiply your stake fast. Decide a budget and a number of hands before you start, and stop when you reach either. Our responsible gambling page has tools and support.
Frequently asked questions
How does video poker work?
You get five cards, choose which to hold, and the rest are replaced from the remaining 47 cards of the deck. Your final five-card hand is paid according to the paytable. You play against the paytable, not against other players or a dealer.
What is Jacks or Better?
The most common video poker paytable. The lowest paying hand is a pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces. Evolution's First Person Video Poker uses Jacks or Better by default and also offers Tens or Better, Deuces Wild, Bonus Poker and Double Double Bonus.
How often do you get a pair of Jacks or better on the deal?
About 13% of five-card deals (337,920 of 2,598,960) are a pair of Jacks or better, and about 4.75% are two pair. Half of all deals (50.1%) have no pair or better at all. These are our calculations, before any draw.
What are the odds of hitting a flush draw?
Holding four cards of one suit and drawing one card, 9 of the 47 remaining cards complete the flush: 19.15%. An open-ended straight draw (like 5-6-7-8) has 8 outs, 17.02%; an inside straight draw has 4 outs, 8.51%.
What is the RTP of video poker?
It depends on the paytable, and the official page we checked doesn't publish an RTP for Evolution's First Person Video Poker. The game's help screen and paytable are the place to check. A paytable that pays less for a full house or flush returns less.
Does video poker count towards casino bonus wagering?
Often only partly. In our reviews, casinos such as Oshi, Playfina and Gunsbet count video poker at 5%, Galactic Wins at 8%, and Cosmoswin at 0%. Always check the bonus terms first.