Calculating The Video Poker House Edge
Initially, you will want to consider the house edge before sitting down to any particular game of Video Poker. The multitude of variations means that there is an equal multitude of difference in the odds between games. For that reason, it’s important to become familiar with the house edge before you commit to a real money wager. While we can’t list all the various game’s house edge, we can outline a few to give you an idea of what to expect before you play. Here are some of the factors that influence the house edge on any Video Poker game.
The biggest impact will come first and foremost from the amount of decks used in a Video Poker game. Some games will use just one, some will use several. In general, each hand of Video Poker is reserved its own deck of 52-cards or 54-cards in the case of Joker Poker. What’s true about Video Poker is that the cards are being constantly shuffled, regardless of where you are in the progression from deal to calculating hand strength for a payout. This makes it impossible to “guess” what cards will come up next when you discard for new cards. Multi-hand Video Poker games will involve even more decks, which skews the odds in the house’s favor even further. Although, Video Poker has one of the best return rates to players. It comes to near 100% in many varieties of the game.
Because there are so many variations on the game, the house edge can vary quite a bit between them. The house edge can generally fall within a field of 0.5% to 5% house edge. This makes Video Poker potentially one of the best games to play at the casino. Returns can be huge and you don’t have to be a great player to come out on top. Even novices clean up on games with wild cards like Deuces Wild and Joker Poker.
Video Poker Hand Odds
There are so many varieties of video poker games available to you online. However, there are only so many hands that can be made in a game of video poker. We’ve compiled a series of tables that detail the poker hands in their hierarchy according to several popular varieties of video poker. While the payouts described in each table are the same, there are unique variations of video poker where the top return reaches well into the thousands.
Jacks or Better
| Hand | Payout | Probability |
| Royal flush | 800 | 0.0025% |
| Straight flush | 90 | 0.0119% |
| Four of a kind | 25 | 0.2361% |
| Full house | 9 | 1.1505% |
| Flush | 6 | 1.1190% |
| Straight | 4 | 1.1039% |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 7.4385% |
| Two pair | 2 | 12.9205% |
| Jacks or better | 1 | 21.3704% |
| Nothing | 0 | 54.6468% |
Deuces Wild
| Hand | Payout | Probability |
| Natural royal flush | 800 | 0.0022% |
| Four deuces | 200 | 0.0204% |
| Wild royal flush | 25 | 0.1796% |
| Five of a kind | 15 | 0.3202% |
| Straight flush | 9 | 0.4168% |
| Four of a kind | 5 | 6.4938% |
| Full house | 3 | 2.1229% |
| Flush | 2 | 1.6784% |
| Straight | 2 | 5.6070% |
| Three of a kind | 1 | 28.4690% |
| Nothing | 0 | 54.6897% |
Bonus poker
| Hand | Payout | Probability |
| Royal Flush | 800 | 0.0025% |
| Straight Flush | 55 | 0.0108% |
| Four Aces | 80 | 0.0196% |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s | 40 | 0.0527% |
| Four 5s – Ks | 25 | 0.1640% |
| Full House | 8 | 1.1513% |
| Flush | 5 | 1.0911% |
| Straight | 4 | 1.1236% |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 7.4458% |
| Two Pair | 2 | 12.9290% |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 21.5058% |
| All Other | 0 | 54.5037% |
Double Bonus Poker
| Hand | Payout | Probability |
| Royal flush | 800 | 0.0021% |
| Straight flush | 50 | 0.0113% |
| 4 aces | 160 | 0.0199% |
| 4 2-4 | 80 | 0.0524% |
| 4 5-K | 50 | 0.1608% |
| Full house | 10 | 1.1190% |
| Flush | 7 | 1.4953% |
| Straight | 5 | 1.5019% |
| 3 of a kind | 3 | 7.2199% |
| Two pair | 1 | 12.4658% |
| Jacks or better | 1 | 19.2379% |
| Nothing | 0 | 56.7136% |
Double Double Bonus Poker
| Hand | Payout | Probability |
| Royal flush | 800 | 0.0025% |
| Straight flush | 50 | 0.0110% |
| 4 aces + 2-4 | 400 | 0.0062% |
| 4 2-4 + A-4 | 160 | 0.0143% |
| 4 aces + 5-K | 160 | 0.0174% |
| 4 2-4 + 5-K | 80 | 0.0384% |
| 4 5-K | 50 | 0.1631% |
| Full house | 10 | 1.0863% |
| Flush | 6 | 1.1307% |
| Straight | 4 | 1.2743% |
| 3 of a kind | 3 | 7.5297% |
| Two pair | 1 | 12.3124% |
| Jacks or better | 1 | 21.1503% |
| Nothing | 0 | 55.2635% |
Joker Poker (Kings or Better)
| Hand | Payout | Probability |
| Natural royal flush | 800 | 0.0024% |
| Five of a kind | 200 | 0.0093% |
| Wild royal flush | 100 | 0.0104% |
| Straight flush | 50 | 0.0575% |
| Four of a kind | 20 | 0.8555% |
| Full house | 7 | 1.5679% |
| Flush | 5 | 1.5577% |
| Straight | 3 | 1.6595% |
| Three of a kind | 2 | 13.3937% |
| Two pair | 1 | 11.0873% |
| Kings or better | 1 | 14.1958% |
| Nothing | 0 | 55.6029% |
As you can see, the odds of landing a good hand change a good deal between varieties of Video Poker. Take a look at the joker poker qualifying hand. It requires players to hold a pair of kings or better, with a 14.19% probability of you holding that hand by the end of the game. In the game of Jacks or Better, that probability of a qualifying hand jumps up to 21.3%. This is because you are only required to hold a pair of jacks or better to earn a payout.
Video Poker Payouts
When it comes to Video Poker payouts, they are similar across a wide range of varieties. As you can see in the tables above, payouts remain largely the same, while the hand hierarchy and probability of holding those cards in your hand vary a good deal. When it comes to the payouts of the game, they really only change when a jackpot is involved and when you are wagering more than the minimum of one unit. When a jackpot is involved, you have the opportunity to win an exceptionally large purse from the casino. The jackpot can be fixed or exist as a progressive jackpot hat grows and grows until won. These varieties of jackpot games also typically require a minimum wager requirement to be met in order to be considered for a jackpot win. When you wager more than one unit, the overall payout is multiplied by that number of units. Most Video Poker games have a maximum wager of five units. If we use the tables above as a reference, that means the top prize can earn you up to 4,000 times the value of your betting unit.
You’ve become pretty well acquainted with the more popular styles of Video Poker and their associated probabilities as well as payouts. If you’d like to know more about the game, you can check out our how to play, rules, and strategy sections for more information. When you’re ready, head over to our recommended casinos resource to find the best online casinos offering Video Poker games and promotions.
