Online Video Poker Odds
Online video poker odds are a vital tool if you want to have a proper understanding of the game and get maximum value from your bets. Unlike some casino games which are purely luck-based, online video poker odds are affected by your in-game decisions – just like blackjack. That’s why it’s very important that you understand what you’re doing before you bet real money.
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If you’re already familiar with online video poker odds, you can jump into the action by following the links provided. They’ll take you to our top-recommended online casinos, available to players in Canada, which all offer a great mixture of video poker games. Or, if you want to improve your chance to win at online video poker, read on to learn more in our expert guide.
Odds and decision making
When you’re dealt the initial five cards in a hand of online video poker, you’ll have a choice to hold anywhere from zero to five cards. Any cards you discard are replaced with new ones, which means you can see a total of up to 10 cards per hand. Your aim is to make the best five-card hand possible.
Choosing which cards to discard is a critical part of the game, and will drastically alter your odds of winning. In order to give yourself the best chance to win at online video poker, give yourself a firm understanding of the odds. This will improve your decision making, and lead to more profit.
Odds of hitting a hand
The first step to understanding your chances of winning in online video poker is to assess your chances of hitting a hand outright. That means landing a hand with the first five cards, before you even discard any.
Here are the odds of hitting a hand with your first five cards:
| Hand | Odds |
|---|---|
| Royal flush | 649,740/1 |
| Straight flush | 72,193/1 |
| Four-of-a-kind | 4,165/1 |
| Full house | 694/1 |
| Flush | 509/1 |
| Straight | 255/1 |
| Three-of-a-kind | 47/1 |
| Two pair | 21/2 |
| Pair (JJ or above) | 7.69/1 |
Odds on the draw
After you receive your five cards, you’ll have the opportunity to draw up to five more. Each discarded card is replaced with a new one. This means there are too many variables to summarise every possible outcome into a simple table, like the one above. However, our experts have highlighted a few important online video poker odds you should know regarding the second draw.
Here are some of the key stats you should know regarding your odds of improving on the draw:
| Current hand | Example | Desired hand | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four cards to the royal | 10h-Jh-Qh-Kh-7s | Royal flush | 47/1 |
| Three-of-a-kind | 5c-5s-5d-Kh-10s | Four-of-a-kind | 24/1 |
| Three-of-a-kind | 5c-5s-5d-Kh-10s | Full house | 16/1 |
| Four cards to the open-ended straight | 3s-4c-5s-6d-9h | Straight | 6/1 |
| Four cards to the inside straight | 3s-4c-6s-7d-Jh | Straight | 12/1 |
| Four cards to the flush | 2c-5c-8c-Qc-Kh | Flush | 5/1 |
| Single pair | 4h-4d-5c-9d-Qd | Two pair | 6/1 |
| Single pair | 4h-4d-5c-9d-Qd | Three-of-a-kind | 9/1 |
| Single pair | 4h-4d-5c-9d-Qd | Full house | 12/1 |
Different game, different odds
You may have seen names floating around like ‘Full Pay (9/6) Jacks or Better’, or ‘9/5 Jacks or Better’. If you’re curious about the numbers that precede the name, they represent the online video poker odds for that machine. Specifically, they refer to the payouts for a full house and a flush respectively.
For instance, 9/6 Jacks or Better pays 9/1 for the full house and 6/1 for the flush. 9/5 Jacks or Better pays 9/1 on the full house and 5/1 on the flush, while 8/6 Jacks or Better pays 8/1 for a full house and 6/1 for a flush. There are several other variants, but you’ve probably guessed by now that the higher the numbers, the higher the payouts – meaning a better chance to win at online video poker.
If 9/6 Jacks or Better is available, go for that. If not, the next highest numbers will represent the best option. Here’s a visual overview of how much each version is likely to pay out:
| Version | RTP |
|---|---|
| 9/6 | 99.54% |
| 9/5 | 98.45% |
| 8/6 | 98.39% |
| 8/5 | 97.3% |
| 7/5 | 96.15% |
| 6/5 | 95% |
Understanding RTP in video poker
The return-to-player (RTP) percentage is an indicator of how much you can expect to win or lose against the casino over time. For almost all games, this number is below 100%. An RTP of over 100% means you’d make profit against the casino. However, you can actually find online video poker with odds that make the RTP over 100%.
Full Pay Deuces Wild is an example of online video poker with odds exceeding 100%. To be precise, the RPT on that particular machine is 100.76%. These machines are very hard to find, especially these days. But even the regular 9/6 Jacks or better has a very respectable 99.54% RTP.
The key factor you have to remember is that these numbers are based on perfect play. That means no feeling lucky, no flippant plays, no mixing up your strategy. In order to achieve the maximum RTP, you have to play using a rigid structure where you always make the play which is mathematically correct.
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