Single-Hand Video Poker Online for Real Money or Free
Play single-hand video poker online for free in your browser, with no download and no real money. The game opens on Jacks or Better with the 9/6 pay table and 10000 play-money credits, and you can bet 1 to 5 coins using Bet One or Bet Max before pressing Deal. To use it as a free video poker trainer, tick the "Warn on strategy errors" checkbox above the game. The Speed and More Games controls are also on the page. You may also enjoy my online multi-hand video poker game.
How to play single-hand video poker online for free
Choose a bet of 1 to 5 coins with Bet One or Bet Max, then press Deal to receive five cards from a standard 52-card deck. Click the cards you want to hold. The cards you do not hold are replaced with new cards from the remaining deck, and the final hand is paid according to the pay table. You start with 10000 play-money credits. JavaScript is required. The video poker basics page covers the general rules.
Practice with warnings. To improve your game, tick "Warn on strategy errors" above the game. The advice given is optimal, based on all the possible combinations of cards on the draw. This turns a free video poker game into a trainer.
Single-hand video poker pays
The game opens on Jacks or Better with the 9/6 pay table, shown here per coin bet.
| Hand | Pays per coin |
|---|---|
| Royal flush | 250 (800 with five coins bet) |
| Straight flush | 50 |
| Four of a kind | 25 |
| Full house | 9 |
| Flush | 6 |
| Straight | 4 |
| Three of a kind | 3 |
| Two pair | 2 |
| Jacks or better | 1 |
The Jacks or Better return table lists the 9-6 pay table with combinations and probabilities. Players who hit a natural royal flush can enter the Royal Flush Club (choose the modern one from the list).
Return and house edge
With optimal strategy, the 9-6 Jacks or Better pay table returns 99.54%, which is a house edge of 0.46%. The figure uses the 800 royal flush pay, so it applies to five-coin bets. Always Bet the Maximum: Betting five coins per hand is often advised because it maximizes the potential payout for a royal flush, which can make a significant difference in your overall winnings. The standard deviation of full pay 9/6 Jacks or Better is 4.42.
Strategy errors have a cost. The simple strategy returns 99.46% on this pay table. Compared with the optimal 99.54%, its mistakes cost 0.08%, or one total bet every 1178 hands.
Jacks or Better strategy
Strategy is a ranked list of plays. Look up every viable way to play the initial hand and choose the one highest on the list. A high card is a jack, queen, king or ace. The simple strategy starts like this:
- Four of a kind, straight flush, royal flush
- 4 to a royal flush
- Three of a kind, straight, flush, full house
- 4 to a straight flush
- Two pair
- High pair
It continues down to one high card, and ends with discarding everything. The full list is on the simple strategy page. If you are unsure of a hold, switch on "Warn on strategy errors" and compare your choice with the advice.
Playing video poker online for real money
Credits in this game are play money and have no cash value. Real-money video poker is a separate activity offered by online casinos, not by this page. Pay tables differ from game to game, so check the pay table before playing for real. Joker Poker: This version typically offers slightly lower returns than Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild, with payout percentages ranging between 98.6% and 99.3%, depending on the paytable. Bonus offers have terms worth reading in full, such as wagering requirements and how much each game counts toward them.
I would like to thank Dingo Systems for the playing card images.
Classic video poker games
These older single-game versions are still available.
- Full-Pay Deuces Wild
- Double Bonus Poker
- Double Double Bonus Poker
- Jacks or Better
- Joker Poker
- "Not So Ugly Ducks" (NSUD) Deuces Wild
Online Video Poker Bonuses View All
We have taken great strides in creating an algorithm that helps determine the best video poker bonuses for players to take advantage of online. This bonus table takes into account several factors, including wagering requirements, the amount offered, whether the casino is reputable or not, and more. Based on these criteria, we feel the best video poker bonuses are below.
Online Casino Software offering Video Poker (43)
Free Online Video Poker FAQ
Yes. The game is free, runs in the browser and needs no download. It uses play money, starting with 10000 credits, so no real funds are wagered. JavaScript is required. You can play single-hand video poker online for free for as long as you like, with the strategy warning option on or off.
No. The credits are play money, and play money has no cash value. Nothing won here can be withdrawn or exchanged. The game is for practice. Real-money video poker is a separate activity offered by online casinos, with its own rules and terms.
It is a checkbox above the game. When it is selected, the game gives strategy advice and warns about mistakes. The advice is optimal, based on all the possible combinations of cards on the draw. It turns the game into a video poker trainer.
The game opens on Jacks or Better with the 9/6 pay table. A full house pays 9 and a flush pays 6 per coin, and a royal flush pays 800 per coin when five coins are bet. Optimal play returns 99.54% on this table, a house edge of 0.46%.
You can bet 1 to 5 coins per hand with the Bet One and Bet Max controls. The starting credit is 10000. A royal flush pays 250 per coin on a one-coin bet and 4000 on a five-coin bet, so the five-coin bet changes the royal flush pay.