Video Poker in the US: Guides, Pay Tables, and Where to Play
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Video poker looks like a slot machine but plays like five-card draw against a pay table: you are dealt five cards, choose which to keep, draw replacements and are paid for the final hand from a fixed schedule. That mix of chance and decisions makes it one of the few casino games where skill moves the numbers, and one where the pay table on the screen can change the cost of an hour several times over. This hub collects our eight video poker guides, a table of the best-known versions with their exact returns, the legal picture in the US and the first steps for keeping play affordable. Every figure is either a published fact or a result we computed by enumerating every possible hand, and none of it predicts a single session.
Video Poker Guides: Where to Start
Start with the guide that matches your question, or read them in order for the full picture.
- How Video Poker Works: one hand from bet to payout, what five coins buy and what an hour at the machine costs.
- Video Poker Hands and Pay Tables Explained: how often each hand lands, what the 9/6 label means and how to spot a short-pay game.
- Jacks or Better, Bonus Poker, and Double Bonus Poker: the best-known versions of the core game, with the return and swing of each pay table.
- Deuces Wild and Joker Poker: how wild cards change the pay table, the swings and the hands worth holding.
- Multi-Hand Video Poker, Ultimate X, and Spin Poker: extra lines, multipliers and grids, and what each one does to the cost of a deal.
- Video Poker RTP, Volatility, and Bankroll: what the return means in dollars per hour and how far real sessions stray from it.
- Video Poker Strategy and Common Mistakes: a ranked list of holds, worked hands with exact values and what each error costs.
- Online Video Poker Regulations and Player Safety: who regulates the game in the US, how it is tested and what unlicensed sites take away.
The Video Poker Numbers That Matter Most
The table lists the best-known versions of the game, the pay table to look for in each, the return when the game is played perfectly and the swing per hand. A label such as 9/6 names the full house and flush rows, which pay 9 and 6 for each coin bet. Each return comes from working out the best hold for every possible starting hand, 2,598,960 of them in a 52-card deck, and every result agrees with the published figure for that pay table.
| Game | Pay table to look for | Return with perfect play | Swing per hand (in bets) |
| Jacks or Better | 9/6 (full house 9, flush 6) | 99.54% | 4.4 |
| Bonus Poker | 8/5 | 99.17% | 4.6 |
| Bonus Poker Deluxe | 9/6 | 99.64% | 5.7 |
| Aces and Faces | 8/5 | 99.26% | 4.6 |
| Double Bonus Poker | 10/7 | 100.17% | 5.3 |
| Double Double Bonus Poker | 10/6 (full pay) or 9/6 | 100.07% at 10/6, 98.98% at 9/6 | 6.5 |
| Triple Double Bonus Poker | 9/7 | 99.58% | 9.9 |
| All American Poker | 35/8 | 99.60% | 5.1 |
| Deuces Wild | Full pay (25-15-9-5-3-2-2-1) | 100.76% | 5.1 |
| Deuces Wild | NSUD (25-16-10-4-4-3-2-1) | 99.73% | 5.1 |
| Joker Poker (Kings or Better) | Full pay (four of a kind 20, full house 7, flush 5) | 100.65% | 5.1 |
The swing per hand is the standard deviation of the payout, measured in bets. It describes how far single hands stray from the average: a game with a swing near 4.4 pays small amounts often and big ones rarely, and a game with a swing near 9.9 pushes the same pattern much further. Read it next to the return, never alone, because a bigger swing does not mean a better return.
Returns turn into money with one multiplication. Five $0.25 coins make a $1.25 hand, and at an example pace of 600 hands an hour, one every 6 seconds, that puts $750 through the machine. Perfect play on 9/6 Jacks or Better has an expected cost of $3.42 of that, while the same hour on 8/5 Jacks or Better has an expected cost of $20.26. Our video poker math guide shows how far a real hour can stray from these averages.
Several returns in the table pass 100%. They are long-run averages over a huge number of hands, they assume the best hold on every deal and an hour of play can end far from them in either direction. Pay tables like these are also rare, so read the screen instead of assuming that a game has one.
Where Online Video Poker Is Legal in the US
Real-money online casino gaming is legalized state by state. Licensed operators usually list video poker in the casino lobby next to slots and table games, although the selection and the pay tables differ by state and by operator. As of early October 2026, state-regulated online casinos are live in these seven states:
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Michigan
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- West Virginia
Maine legalized online casino gaming in January 2026 through its tribal nations, but as of early October 2026 no licensed online casino had launched there. Nevada permits online poker, not online casino games, so there is no state-regulated online video poker there: the game is played on machines in casinos and in the bars and shops that hold restricted licenses.
Players generally must be 21 or older, and licensed operators use geolocation to confirm that you are inside the state while you play. Offshore and sweepstakes sites sit outside state regulation, and laws keep changing as new states act, so check your state regulator’s current rules before you deposit. Our regulation and fairness guide explains how testing works and what unlicensed sites take away.
Where to Play
Licensed operators and offers vary by state. The cards below show the casinos available where you are.
Play Responsibly
Video poker rewards good decisions, but most pay tables you will meet still carry a house edge, so it is paid entertainment and not a way to make money. Set a deposit limit and a time limit before you start, and stop when you reach them. Licensed US casinos offer deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion, and our responsible gaming page explains how to use them.
If gambling stops being fun, call 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738) or text 800GAM to reach the National Problem Gambling Helpline. It is free, confidential and open 24/7.
Author:
Lucas Portela
Owner, BoldGambler • Avanhandava/SP
Oddsmaker, affiliate and content creator in the iGaming industry.