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Read a video poker pay table

Copy the pays from the machine’s glass and see what the table returns with optimal play, worked out over all 2,598,960 deals. At $1 a hand, 100 hands of 9/6 Jacks or Better cost about $0.46 on average; 100 spins on a slot returning 92% cost about $8.00.

Your pay table

Pick the game, then enter what each hand pays for one credit. Optimal play means that on every deal you keep the cards that pay the most on average.

Pay tables, worked out

What each of these tables returns with optimal play, by our own count over every deal. Two of them Loto-Québec prints for its online version, with their return; the others are example pay tables, named by their lines. A table that is not here gets the same count in your browser.

Jacks or Better

Pay tableReturnsSource
9/6 Jacks or BetterFull house 9 · Flush 6printed by Loto-Québec for its online version99.54%
9/5 Jacks or BetterFull house 9 · Flush 5an example pay table98.45%
8/6 Jacks or BetterFull house 8 · Flush 6an example pay table98.39%
8/5 Jacks or BetterFull house 8 · Flush 5printed by Loto-Québec for its online version97.30%
7/5 Jacks or BetterFull house 7 · Flush 5an example pay table96.15%
6/5 Jacks or BetterFull house 6 · Flush 5an example pay table95.00%

Deuces Wild

Pay tableReturnsSource
Deuces Wild 25/15/9/5/3/2Five of a kind 15 · Straight flush 9 · Four of a kind 5 · Full house 3 · Flush 2an example pay table100.76%
Deuces Wild 25/16/10/4/4/3Five of a kind 16 · Straight flush 10 · Four of a kind 4 · Full house 4 · Flush 3an example pay table99.73%
Deuces Wild 25/15/10/4/4/3Five of a kind 15 · Straight flush 10 · Four of a kind 4 · Full house 4 · Flush 3an example pay table99.42%
Deuces Wild 20/12/9/5/3/2Five of a kind 12 · Straight flush 9 · Four of a kind 5 · Full house 3 · Flush 2an example pay table98.94%
Deuces Wild 25/15/9/4/4/3Five of a kind 15 · Straight flush 9 · Four of a kind 4 · Full house 4 · Flush 3an example pay table98.91%
Deuces Wild 20/15/9/4/4/3Five of a kind 15 · Straight flush 9 · Four of a kind 4 · Full house 4 · Flush 3an example pay table97.97%

Show the model

How often each final hand comes up with optimal play, and how much of the return it brings, for 9/6 Jacks or Better.

Final handPaysProbabilityAbout 1 inAdds to the return
Royal flush8000.00248%40,3911.98%
Straight flush500.0109%9,1480.55%
Four of a kind250.236%4235.91%
Full house91.15%8710.36%
Flush61.10%916.61%
Straight41.12%894.49%
Three of a kind37.44%1322.33%
Two pair212.93%825.86%
Jacks or better121.46%521.46%
Anything else054.54%20.00%
Return99.54%

How it’s worked out

Every deal, every hold. For each of the 2,598,960 five-card deals we try all 32 ways of keeping cards, count every draw from the 47 cards left, and take the hold that pays the most on average. The return is the average over all deals. Nothing is sampled or estimated.

Checked against what is printed. For 9/6 and 8/5 Jacks or Better, the two tables Loto-Québec prints for its online version, our count gives the upper end of the range of returns Loto-Québec prints for each, the return at a full bet. If a figure ever differed, this page would not be built.

What it assumes. One hand at a time, dealt from a full 52-card deck, at a full bet, with the pays you enter for one credit. It ignores mistakes: any hold other than the one that pays the most on average lowers the return.

No cost per hour. We have no published figure for how many hands an hour people play video poker, so the cost is shown per 100 hands.

For comparison, slot machines: 92% is the average return at B.C. casinos ; 85% is the lowest return Ontario’s technical standards allow a slot, not an average .

Casinos that name video poker

10 casinos name video poker on their own website or their operator’s page for them; tap a name for the words and the page. Their pay tables are not published, so read the glass before you play.

If it stops being fun

If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. 19+ in most of Canada; 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. More on responsible gaming.

1-866-531-2600Ontario · ConnexOntario · 24 hours
1-800-461-0140Quebec · Jeu: aide et référence · 24 hours
1-888-795-6111British Columbia · Gambling Support BC · 24 hours
1-866-332-2322Alberta · Addiction Helpline · 24 hours
1-800-463-1554Manitoba · Problem Gambling Helpline · 24 hours
1-800-306-6789Saskatchewan · Problem Gambling Help Line · 24 hours
1-888-429-8167Nova Scotia · Mental Health and Addictions Crisis Line · 24 hours
1-800-461-1234New Brunswick · Gambling Information Line
1-855-255-4255Prince Edward Island · PEI Gambling Support Line · 24 hours
811Newfoundland and Labrador · Gambling Help Line · 24 hours
1-844-533-3030Yukon · Reach Out Support Line (CMHA Yukon)

If you are thinking about suicide, call or text 9-8-8

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