What this strategy actually does
This strategy aims to maximize your Expected Value (EV) on every hand. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll win today, but it ensures that over thousands of hands, you are playing at the lowest possible house edge (0.46%). It removes the guesswork and prevents the “gut feeling” mistakes that drain bankrolls.
The core rules
Follow this hierarchy. Keep the highest hand on this list and discard the rest:
- Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind.
- 4 cards to a Royal Flush.
- Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind.
- 4 cards to a Straight Flush.
- Two Pair.
- High Pair (Jacks or Better).
- 3 cards to a Royal Flush.
- 4 cards to a Flush.
- Low Pair (10s or lower).
- 4 cards to an open-ended Straight.
Why it works (the math)
Every hand has a “mathematically correct” way to be played based on the probability of what the draw will bring. For example, holding a Low Pair has a higher EV ($0.82 per $1 bet) than holding three cards to a Straight ($0.43). By always choosing the highest EV move, you shrink the house edge to its theoretical minimum.
Common mistakes
- Chasing the Flush: Players often hold two suited cards when they should have just held a high card.
- Breaking a Pair: Never break a winning pair (Jacks or Better) to chase a Flush or Straight unless you have 4 cards to a Royal Flush.
- Overvaluing the “Kicker”: In Video Poker, a kicker (like holding an Ace with your pair of 8s) doesn’t help you. It actually hurts you by removing an Ace from the deck that could have helped you make Three of a Kind or Two Pair.
Limits of this strategy
This strategy cannot overcome a bad paytable. If you play perfect strategy on a 6/5 machine, you will still lose money faster than a mediocre player on a 9/6 machine. It also doesn’t account for bankroll “ruin”—if you don’t have enough credits to survive a dry spell, you’ll go bust before the math evenizes out.
[Image of a strategy card for video poker]
In Detail
Video poker strategy is the rare casino skill where the player really can improve the result. Not by guessing hot machines, but by holding the right cards again and again.
What the machine is really asking
The real skill in Strategy is boring in the best possible way: make the highest-EV hold, then do it again. Video poker does not reward heroic feelings. It rewards repeated correct choices when a tempting wrong hold is sitting right there on the screen.
The best video poker players are not psychics. They are consistent. They compare holds by average value, not by what happened the last time they threw away a kicker.
The math behind the hold
The key video poker formula is $EV(hold)=\sum_{d}P(d)\times\text{Payout}(\text{final hand after draw }d)$. Good strategy simply chooses the hold with the highest EV. The correct play is not always the prettiest hand on the screen; it is the hand with the best average value after all possible draws.
A clean way to think about the subject is this: the casino does not need every hand, spin, or roll to lose. It only needs the average price to be in its favor after enough decisions. One lucky hit can beat the math for a moment; repeated action lets the math stand back up.
The mistake that gets expensive
The expensive mistake is keeping the hand that feels safe instead of the hold that has better draw value. A paying pair can be right. Breaking a made hand can also be right. The chart decides.
The punchy rule is simple: do not pay extra just because the game made the extra bet easy to reach. Felt layout is not advice. A glowing machine screen is not advice. A cheering table is not advice. Your bankroll needs numbers, not applause.
The casino-floor truth
The casino-floor truth about Strategy is simple: good players look boring. They check the paytable, play slower than slot players, use a strategy chart when allowed, and do not celebrate bad holds that accidentally won. The machine pays outcomes, but the edge is shaped before the draw button is pressed.
The practical takeaway for strategy: slow down, read the paytable, and make the correct hold even when the prettier choice is begging for attention. In video poker, discipline is not a motivational poster. It is part of the return.