Video poker combines five-card draw poker with the quick and convenient gameplay of a slot machine. However, unlike a slot machine, you have some idea of the odds required to make each hand, from a royal flush to jacks or better. Here you’ll find a rundown of video poker odds and the payouts associated with them.
How Video Poker Odds Work
The first thing you should know is that video poker odds/payouts can vary by game. So, if you need more specific guidance, you’ll need to seek out advice related to the type of video poker you want to play. Much like with online slots, there are a lot of different video poker games hosted over the internet. By playing specific games, you can get more hands-on experience with video poker odds and payouts by seeing how often hands appear on the screen and what they pay out.
The most common odds format is Jacks or Better (Draw Poker), so that’s the type of game we’ve focused on below. In traditional poker, odds are determined by the random sorting and distribution of cards between players. In video poker, a randomizing software is used instead to guarantee the same level of randomness. They function just like how random number generation is used for slots.
Odds & Payouts Sorted by Poker Hand
If the name Jacks or Better didn’t tip you off, most video poker games start paying out once you make a pair of jacks. Other types of video poker count lower card values, like Tens or Better. Most Jacks or Better games use a 9/6 payout model, where a full house pays back nine-fold and the flush pays back six-fold. Of course, you’ll need to know the poker hands first.
If you see other bracket variants (10/6, 9/7, 7/5) all indicate how much you’d get back for a full house or a flush, respectively. With that understood, you should be able to identify full-pay games when you see them.
Below we’ve ranked each hand by its odds and the payout you can expect if you make them. They’re ordered from the best-paying hand down to the least valuable hands you can see in video poker, with odds and payout ratios attached.
| The Hand | The Odds | The Payout |
| Natural Royal Flush | 1 in 650,000 | 800:1 |
| Royal Flush Ending Hand | 1 in 40,000 | 800:1 |
| Straight Flush | 1 in 9,150 | 50:1 |
| Four of a Kind | 1 in 423 | 25:1 |
| Full House | 1 in 90 | 9:1 |
| Flush | 1 in 85 | 6:1 |
| Straight | 1 in 80 | 4:1 |
| Three of a Kind | 1 in 47 | 3:1 |
| Two Pair | 1 in 21 | 2:1 |
| Jacks | 1 in 4.6 | 1:1 |
As you’d expect, the potential payout is directly correlated to how rare the hand is. In the table above, we have also differentiated between a natural royal flush and a hand that ends in a royal flush. Since video poker hands are iterative, you can arrive at a royal flush by swapping cards out. In fact, it’s much more likely that’s how you’ll arrive at a royal flush, instead of being dealt one naturally by the machine.
With this brief guide, you should now have a better idea of video poker odds and how they’d pay out if you make the right hand.
