Video Poker Strategy Calculator

How this calculator works

Choose your game, check or edit the paytable to match the machine in front of you, then tap your five dealt cards. The calculator checks all 32 ways to hold or discard, deals out every possible draw from the remaining 47 cards for each one, scores the results against your paytable and averages them. The hold with the highest expected value is shown in gold - that is the correct play. Because it works from the exact paytable you enter, it stays accurate even when a casino uses a non-standard pay schedule.

Why the editable paytable matters

The same game can pay very differently from one casino to the next, and the correct strategy shifts with it. The two numbers that change the most are the full house and the flush, which is why machines are named by them - a "9/6" Jacks or Better pays 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush. Before you play, read the machine, set the values here to match, and the best-hold advice updates instantly. Tap "Reset paytable" to return to the standard schedule for that game.

The games included

• Jacks or Better, Tens or Better - the classics, differing only in the lowest paying pair.
• Bonus Poker, Bonus Poker Deluxe, Double Bonus, All American - boosted four-of-a-kind or flush and straight payouts.
• Double Double Bonus, Triple Double Bonus - kicker games, where four aces with a 2, 3 or 4 alongside pays a premium.
• Aces & Eights, Aces & Faces - specific four-of-a-kind ranks pay extra.
• Deuces Wild, Loose Deuces, Sevens Wild - wild-card games. The full-pay Deuces Wild returns about 100.76% with flawless play.

All payouts assume a five-coin (maximum) bet, which is why the royal flush shows 800 per coin. Always bet max coins.

How the maths is done

This is a complete-search solver, not an estimate. Every draw is scored exactly, so the expected value of each hold is precise to the last cent for the paytable you set.

• EV of a holdEV = average payout over every possible draw
• Best playbest = the hold with the highest EV
• Cost of a mistakecost = EV(best) − EV(your hold)

Because it scores the cards in front of you rather than relying on a memorised chart, it is correct even in the rare edge cases where simple strategy guides disagree. Joker and 53-card variants are not included here, as they use a different deck.