Video Poker vs Slots: The Same-Looking Machine With a 6% Better House Edge
Video poker machines and slot machines look identical to a casual observer. They're not even close mathematically. Full-pay Jacks-or-Better video poker has a 0.46% house edge — better than blackjack.
Video poker machines look like slots but are mathematically completely different. Full-pay 9/6 Jacks-or-Better has a 99.54% RTP (0.46% house edge) — better than blackjack. The catch: most video poker machines aren't full-pay. The 8/5 and 7/5 variants on the Strip have 95-97% RTP. You have to read the pay table to know what you're playing. Most players don't.
Walk past a row of video poker machines on the Strip and you'll see what looks like a slot machine — bright screen, big buttons, denominations from 1¢ to $5. The same row could have ten machines that look identical and play the same game (Jacks-or-Better). Five of them might have 99.54% RTP. Five might have 96%. The pay table is the only difference.
The only thing that matters: the pay table
Jacks-or-Better video poker has eight winning hands. The payouts for each are listed on the machine. The two payouts that decide the RTP:
- Full house: 9 (full-pay) vs 8 or 7 (reduced)
- Flush: 6 (full-pay) vs 5 (reduced)
Notation:
- 9/6: Full house pays 9, flush pays 6 → 99.54% RTP
- 8/5: 8 / 5 → 97.30% RTP
- 7/5: 7 / 5 → 96.15% RTP
- 6/5: 6 / 5 → 95.00% RTP
The full-pay 9/6 machines are increasingly rare on the Vegas Strip. They survive on the off-Strip locals casinos and at high-denomination machines ($5 and $25 video poker tends to be 9/6).
Where to find full-pay machines
In Vegas:
- Off-Strip locals: Suncoast, Orleans, M Resort, Red Rock, Boulder Station typically have 9/6 at $1 denominations
- High-denomination Strip: $5+ machines at most Strip properties are 9/6
- Off-Strip downtown: The El Cortez and Plaza Hotel have 9/6 at lower denominations than the Strip equivalents
In Atlantic City:
- 9/6 is standard at quarter denomination at Borgata and Hard Rock
- Most other AC properties have 8/5 at lower denominations
In tribal casinos:
- Highly variable. Some California tribes have 9/6 at quarter denomination. Florida Seminoles tend toward 8/5.
The strategy
Unlike slots, video poker is a strategy game. Optimal strategy is well-known and free: print or download a Jacks-or-Better strategy chart and follow it.
The chart tells you which cards to hold given each starting hand. Example simplified rules:
- Hold any pair of jacks or higher
- Hold a 4-card flush draw over a low pair
- Never hold a kicker — it doesn't help
- Always hold a complete pair, three of a kind, etc.
The chart has about 30 distinct rules. Memorizing the top 10 captures 95% of expected value.
Video poker vs blackjack
VP wins on house edge, hands per hour, and tip cost. BJ wins on comp rate. For most casual players, VP at 9/6 is the lower-cost game.
The Vegas locals' open secret: $1 9/6 Jacks-or-Better at Suncoast or Orleans is the lowest-cost casino game in the city. Lower expected loss per hour than $10 blackjack at Bellagio.
The catch: variance
Video poker has higher variance than blackjack. About 1 in 40,000 hands is a royal flush — worth 800x your bet. The royal accounts for ~2% of total RTP. If you play 100 hours and don't hit a royal, you'll feel like the machine is broken. It isn't. You just haven't hit the rare event yet.
Bankroll for video poker should be larger than for blackjack: at least 200 max-bets to absorb the variance.
For our bankroll math: see the 5% bankroll rule.
Topics
- video-poker
- slots
- strategy