Video Poker RTP and Paytable Analyzer

How to use this analyzer

This tool models Jacks or Better, the most common video poker game. Tap a preset to load a standard paytable, or type your own per-coin payouts into the table - the most important numbers are the full house and the flush, which is why machines are named by those two figures (a "9/6" pays 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush). The return to player, the house edge and the long-run return per $100 update as you type. The figures assume you play the mathematically best strategy and bet the maximum five coins, which is needed to unlock the 800-for-1 royal flush.

Why the full house and flush matter most

• 9/6 Jacks or Better - the "full pay" version, about 99.54% RTP. The best widely available video poker.
• 8/6 - about 98.39%. Dropping the full house by one costs roughly 1.1%.
• 8/5 - about 97.30%. A very common reduced paytable.
• 7/5 - about 96.15%.
• 6/5 - about 95.00%. Avoid this one where a better table exists.

Every step down on the full house or flush takes roughly a full percent off your return, so checking the paytable before you sit down is the single most valuable habit in video poker.

How the return is calculated

The return to player is the sum, across every winning hand, of its payout multiplied by how often optimal play lands that hand. The house edge is simply what is left over.

• Return shareshare = pay × chance
• Return to playerRTP = sum of all shares
• House edgeedge = 100% − RTP

The hand frequencies come from the standard combinatorial analysis of Jacks or Better under best strategy. They shift only slightly across the common paytables above, so the calculated return matches the published figures to within about a tenth of a percent. Other games - Bonus Poker, Double Bonus, Deuces Wild - use different frequencies and strategies, so their returns will not match this Jacks or Better model.