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Video Poker Strategy Calculator
Introduction
The following table shows the results when following perfect strategy (basic strategy and all of the exceptions):
| Perfect Strategy Analysis | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hand | Payoff | Combinations | Probability | Hit Frequency | Variance | Return |
| Royal Flush | 802 | 489,535,164 | 0.000025 | 40,718.69 | 15.72 | 0.019696 |
| Straight Flush | 52 | 1,503,635,328 | 0.000075 | 13,256.69 | 0.19 | 0.003923 |
| Four Aces | 82 | 3,938,392,188 | 0.000198 | 5,061.26 | 1.27 | 0.016201 |
| Four 2's, 3's, 4's | 42 | 10,556,121,600 | 0.000530 | 1,888.31 | 0.85 | 0.022242 |
| Four 5's through K's | 27 | 32,847,277,224 | 0.001648 | 606.85 | 1.04 | 0.044492 |
| Full House | 9 | 230,786,246,628 | 0.011578 | 86.37 | 0.58 | 0.104202 |
| Flush | 7 | 193,252,612,428 | 0.009695 | 103.15 | 0.25 | 0.067865 |
| Straight | 6 | 177,066,969,924 | 0.008883 | 112.57 | 0.15 | 0.053298 |
| Three of a Kind | 5 | 1,498,932,232,392 | 0.075198 | 13.30 | 0.72 | 0.375988 |
| Two Pair | 4 | 2,605,324,515,984 | 0.130703 | 7.65 | 0.58 | 0.522810 |
| Jacks or Better | 3 | 4,439,796,036,984 | 0.222733 | 4.49 | 0.27 | 0.668200 |
| Nothing | 0 | 10,738,736,941,356 | 0.538735 | 1.86 | 1.94 | 0.000000 |
| Totals | 19,933,230,517,200 | 1.000000 | 2.17 | 23.57 | 1.898918 | |
The following table shows the results when following basic strategy only (not its exceptions):
| Basic Strategy Analysis | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hand | Payoff | Combinations | Probability | Hit Frequency | Variance | Return |
| Royal Flush | 802 | 489,926,808 | 0.000025 | 40,686.14 | 15.73 | 0.019712 |
| Straight Flush | 52 | 1,500,592,992 | 0.000075 | 13,283.57 | 0.19 | 0.003915 |
| Four Aces | 82 | 3,938,346,780 | 0.000198 | 5,061.32 | 1.27 | 0.016201 |
| Four 2's, 3's, 4's | 42 | 10,556,121,600 | 0.000530 | 1,888.31 | 0.85 | 0.022242 |
| Four 5's through K's | 27 | 32,835,845,760 | 0.001647 | 607.06 | 1.04 | 0.044477 |
| Full House | 9 | 230,748,342,300 | 0.011576 | 86.39 | 0.58 | 0.104185 |
| Flush | 7 | 193,218,993,480 | 0.009693 | 103.16 | 0.25 | 0.067853 |
| Straight | 6 | 177,078,202,728 | 0.008884 | 112.57 | 0.15 | 0.053301 |
| Three of a Kind | 5 | 1,498,521,619,200 | 0.075177 | 13.30 | 0.72 | 0.375885 |
| Two Pair | 4 | 2,604,850,149,960 | 0.130679 | 7.65 | 0.58 | 0.522715 |
| Jacks or Better | 3 | 4,441,301,482,464 | 0.222809 | 4.49 | 0.27 | 0.668427 |
| Nothing | 0 | 10,738,190,893,128 | 0.538708 | 1.86 | 1.94 | 0.000000 |
| Totals | 19,933,230,517,200 | 1.000000 | 2.17 | 23.58 | 1.898913 | |
The following table shows the basic strategy:
| Basic Strategy | |
|---|---|
| Type of Play | Play Details |
| Pat Hand | Full House; Straight Flush; Royal Flush |
| 4 of a Kind | (more)2222; 3333; 4444; 5555; 6666; 7777; 8888; 9999; TTTT; JJJJ; QQQQ; KKKK... |
| 4 to a Royal Flush | TJQA; TJQK; TJKA; TQKA; JQKA |
| 3 of a Kind | 222; 333; 444; 555; 666; 777; 888; 999; TTT; JJJ; QQQ; KKK; AAA |
| Pat Hand | Straight; Flush |
| 2 Pair | (more)2233; 2244; 2255; 2266; 2277; 2288; 2299; 22TT; 22JJ; 22QQ; 22KK; 22AA... |
| 4 to a Straight Flush | (more)2345; 2346; 2356; 2456; 3456; 3457; 3467; 3567; 4567; 4568; 4578; 4678... |
| 1 Pair | JJ; QQ; KK; AA |
| 4 to a Straight Flush | (more)A234; A235; A245; A345; 789J; 78TJ; 79TJ; 89TQ; 89JQ; 8TJQ; 9TJK; 9TQK... |
| 3 to a Royal Flush | TJA; TJQ; TJK; TQA; TQK; TKA; JQA; JQK; JKA; QKA |
| 4 to a Flush | (more)234J; 234Q; 234K; 235J; 235Q; 235K; 236A; 236J; 236Q; 236K; 237A; 237J... |
| 4 to a Straight | 9TJQ; TJQK |
| 1 Pair | 22; 33; 44; 88; 99; TT |
| 2 to a Royal Flush | JQ |
| 1 Pair | 55; 66; 77 |
| 4 to a Flush | (more)2347; 2348; 2349; 234T; 2357; 2358; 2359; 235T; 2367; 2368; 2369; 236T... |
| 2 to a Royal Flush | JK; KA |
| 2 to a Royal Flush | JA; QA; QK |
| 4 to a Straight | JQKA |
| 3 to a Straight | JQK |
| 2 to a Straight | JQ; JK; QK |
| 2 to a Straight | JA; QA; KA |
| 4 to a Straight | 89TJ |
| 3 to a Straight Flush | 9TJ |
| Single Card | a Jack; a Queen; a King; an Ace |
| 4 to a Straight | 2345; 3456; 4567; 5678; 6789; 789T |
| 3 to a Straight Flush | 345; 456; 567; 678; 789; 89T |
| Garbage | Discard everything |
The following table shows the exceptions to the basic strategy:
| Basic Strategy Exceptions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Right Play | Wrong Play | Pattern(s) |
| 1 Pair: 55 | 2 to a Royal Flush: JQ | |
| 1 Pair: 66 | 2 to a Royal Flush: JQ | |
| 1 Pair: 77 | 2 to a Royal Flush: JQ | |
| 3 to a Straight Flush: 9JQ | 2 to a Royal Flush: JQ | |
| 2 to a Royal Flush: JQ | 1 Pair: 88 | |
| 2 to a Royal Flush: QA | 2 to a Royal Flush: JK | |