Learning Center / Video Poker
How to play video pokerRead the pay table, hold the right cards
Video poker is the casino game where skill shows up in the return. Pick a machine, read its pay table, and hold the right cards, and a game like 9/6 Jacks or Better returns over 99.5% with perfect play. Here is how to play video poker and how to spot a good machine. Then play free video poker in your browser.
How a round of video poker works
- Pick a machine
Each game has its own pay table. In 9/6 Jacks or Better, the 9 is what a full house pays and the 6 is what a flush pays, per coin. Same game, smaller numbers, lower return.
- Choose coins and denomination
Bet 1 to 5 coins. Playing 5 coins matters: the royal flush jumps from 250 coins per coin to 800 per coin, or 4,000 coins total.
- Deal
You get five cards.
- Hold and draw
Tap the cards you want to keep. The rest are replaced once, from the same 52-card deck.
- Get paid
Your final hand pays from the pay table. In Jacks or Better, a pair of jacks or higher is the smallest winning hand.
Hand rankings and payouts
Highest hand first, with what each pays per coin on 9/6 Jacks or Better. Faded cards don't count toward the hand.
- 1Royal flushA, K, Q, J, 10, all one suit.A♠K♠Q♠J♠10♠2504,000 at 5 coins
- 2Straight flushFive cards in a row, all one suit.9♥8♥7♥6♥5♥50250 at 5 coins
- 3Four of a kindFour cards of the same rank.Q♣Q♦Q♥Q♠7♦25125 at 5 coins
- 4Full houseThree of a kind plus a pair.K♠K♥K♦4♣4♠945 at 5 coins
- 5FlushAny five cards of one suit.A♦J♦8♦5♦2♦630 at 5 coins
- 6StraightFive cards in a row, mixed suits.10♣9♦8♠7♥6♣420 at 5 coins
- 7Three of a kindThree cards of the same rank.8♠8♥8♦K♣3♠315 at 5 coins
- 8Two pairTwo different pairs.J♣J♥6♠6♦A♣210 at 5 coins
- 9Jacks or betterA pair of jacks, queens, kings or aces.Q♥Q♣9♠5♦2♣15 at 5 coins
Strategy basics for Jacks or Better
Keep any paying hand, except break a flush or straight to go for 4 to a royal flush. Hold a low pair over two unsuited high cards. Never hold a kicker with a pair. With perfect play, 9/6 Jacks or Better returns about 99.54%, while 8/5 returns about 97.30%. Dynamic hints show the best hold on every hand and explain why.
Video Poker etiquette
The unwritten rules every dealer knows. Follow these and you'll play like a regular from your first visit.
- Read the pay table first
Check the full house and flush payouts before you sit. Two machines that look identical can pay very differently.
- Insert your players club card
It earns comps and free play on every hand, and it costs nothing.
- Respect a saved machine
A card in the slot, a chair tipped against the machine or a coat on the seat means someone is coming back.
- Don't bang on the machine
Slapping the buttons or hitting the screen won't change your cards. Every hand is decided the moment you press Deal or Draw. If you break the machine, you pay for it, and the camera above you saw the whole thing.
- Ask about speed and sound
A little-known Vegas tip: on most machines, the deal speed and the volume can be adjusted. Press the service button to call a slot attendant and ask what they can change for you.
- Spilled a drink? Tell someone
It happens, and the machines are built to handle it. Just let an attendant know right away so it gets cleaned before it turns sticky for the next player. A spill nobody reports becomes a bigger problem later.
- Hand pay? Tip the attendant
A jackpot of $2,000 or more locks the machine until a slot attendant pays you by hand and fills out the W-2G tax form. Attendants rely on tips, and with ticket printers and the higher threshold, far fewer jackpots get paid by hand than they used to. A 2 to 3% tip is customary; 5% is generous.
- One machine when it's busy
Playing two machines side by side is fine on a quiet night, not when people are waiting for a seat.
Pro tip: check the high limit room
High limit rooms often have multi-hand video poker machines, and you don't have to play every hand. Many let you choose fewer hands at a lower denomination, so your bet can stay close to what you'd play on the main floor while you enjoy the quieter room, nicer restrooms and faster cocktail service. Before you sit, check which denominations and how many hands each machine requires.
Video Poker questions
Can I play video poker for free?
Yes. Jacks or Better is free to play in your browser at games.cqnexus.com/videopoker with no account needed. A 7-day free trial unlocks all nine machines, and the full version is $9.99 one time. CQ Nexus is a training app, so there is never any real-money wagering.
What does 9/6 mean in video poker?
It is shorthand for the pay table: a full house pays 9 coins and a flush pays 6 coins for each coin bet. On Jacks or Better, 9/6 is the full-pay version, worth about 99.54% with perfect play. An 8/5 machine looks the same but returns about 97.30%.
What is the best video poker game?
With perfect strategy, Full Pay Deuces Wild returns about 100.76% and 9/6 Jacks or Better about 99.54%, which is why both are favorites. CQ Nexus includes nine machines with real Vegas pay tables: Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild (Full Pay and NSUD), Joker Poker (Kings or Better and Two Pair), Double Joker, Bonus Poker, Double Bonus and Double Double Bonus.
Should I always play max coins?
On most machines, yes. The royal flush pays 800 per coin only when you bet 5 coins, and that bonus is built into the published return. If 5 coins is too much, a lower denomination at max coins is usually better than fewer coins at a higher one.
Is there a strategy for video poker?
Yes, and it matters more than in almost any other casino game. Every hand has one best hold for a given pay table. The CQ Nexus video poker trainer shows that hold with dynamic hints and explains the reason, with Optimal, Aggressive, Conservative and Comp Points play styles.
Ready to practice?
Video lessons for video poker, narrated by the Casino Quest team, are coming to the Learning Center.