On this page
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 | 800 | 611,327,200 | 0.000031 | 32,606.48 | 19.61 | 0.024535 |
| Straight Flush | 0 | 306,852,584 | 0.000015 | 64,960.28 | 0.00 | 0.000000 |
| Four of a Kind | 0 | 3,569,288,272 | 0.000179 | 5,584.65 | 0.00 | 0.000000 |
| Full House | 0 | 22,632,765,312 | 0.001135 | 880.72 | 0.00 | 0.000000 |
| Flush | 0 | 47,709,254,784 | 0.002393 | 417.81 | 0.00 | 0.000000 |
| Straight | 0 | 79,945,511,304 | 0.004011 | 249.34 | 0.00 | 0.000000 |
| Three of a Kind | 0 | 362,351,443,880 | 0.018178 | 55.01 | 0.00 | 0.000000 |
| Two Pair | 0 | 848,898,725,688 | 0.042587 | 23.48 | 0.01 | 0.000000 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 7,426,508,125,200 | 0.372569 | 2.68 | 0.14 | 0.372569 |
| Nothing | 0 | 11,140,697,222,976 | 0.558901 | 1.79 | 0.09 | 0.000000 |
| Totals | 19,933,230,517,200 | 1.000000 | 2.68 | 19.84 | 0.397104 | |
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 | 800 | 611,319,632 | 0.000031 | 32,606.89 | 19.61 | 0.024535 |
| Straight Flush | 0 | 306,841,404 | 0.000015 | 64,962.65 | 0.00 | 0.000000 |
| Four of a Kind | 0 | 3,569,318,544 | 0.000179 | 5,584.60 | 0.00 | 0.000000 |
| Full House | 0 | 22,632,992,352 | 0.001135 | 880.72 | 0.00 | 0.000000 |
| Flush | 0 | 47,708,251,852 | 0.002393 | 417.82 | 0.00 | 0.000000 |
| Straight | 0 | 79,944,363,204 | 0.004011 | 249.34 | 0.00 | 0.000000 |
| Three of a Kind | 0 | 362,353,139,112 | 0.018178 | 55.01 | 0.00 | 0.000000 |
| Two Pair | 0 | 848,904,038,424 | 0.042587 | 23.48 | 0.01 | 0.000000 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 7,426,513,409,040 | 0.372569 | 2.68 | 0.14 | 0.372569 |
| Nothing | 0 | 11,140,686,843,636 | 0.558900 | 1.79 | 0.09 | 0.000000 |
| Totals | 19,933,230,517,200 | 1.000000 | 2.68 | 19.84 | 0.397104 | |
The following table shows the basic strategy:
| Basic Strategy | |
|---|---|
| Type of Play | Play Details |
| Pat Hand | Royal Flush |
| 4 to a Royal Flush | TJQA; TJQK; TJKA; TQKA; JQKA |
| 3 to a Royal Flush | JQA; JQK; JKA; QKA |
| Pat Hand | Jacks or Better |
| 3 to a Royal Flush | TJA; TJQ; TJK; TQA; TQK; TKA |
| 1 Pair + 2 Kickers | (more)JJ23; JJ24; JJ25; JJ26; JJ27; JJ28; JJ29; JJ2T; JJ2Q; JJ2K; JJ2A; JJ34... |
| 1 Pair + 1 Kicker | (more)JJ2; JJ3; JJ4; JJ5; JJ6; JJ7; JJ8; JJ9; JJT; JJQ; JJK; JJA; QQ2; QQ3... |
| 2 to a Royal Flush | JA; JQ; JK; QA; QK; KA |
| 3 to a Straight | JQA; JQK; JKA; QKA |
| 2 to a Straight | JA; JQ; JK; QA; QK; KA |
| Single Card | a Jack; a Queen; a King; an Ace |
| Garbage | Discard everything |
The following table shows the exceptions to the basic strategy:
| Basic Strategy Exceptions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Right Play | Wrong Play | Pattern(s) |
| 2 to a Royal Flush: TJ | Single Card: a Jack | 10♣ 10♦ 10♥ 10♠ J♣ |
| 2 to a Royal Flush: TQ | Single Card: a Queen | 10♣ 10♦ 10♥ 10♠ Q♣ |
| 2 to a Royal Flush: TK | Single Card: a King | 10♣ 10♦ 10♥ 10♠ K♣ |
| 2 to a Royal Flush: TA | Single Card: an Ace | 10♣ 10♦ 10♥ 10♠ A♣ |