FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Video poker is a casino card game based on five-card draw poker, played on a computerized console. You are dealt five cards, choose which ones to keep (hold), and draw replacements for the rest. Winning hands are determined by a pay table displayed on the machine.
Unlike table poker, you play against the machine, not other players. It combines the strategy of poker with the simplicity of a slot machine. Learn more in our How to Play Video Poker guide.
Playing video poker follows these simple steps:
The key skill is knowing which cards to hold for the best expected value. Read our complete How to Play guide for detailed instructions.
Yes, all 120 video poker games on Pure Video Poker are completely free to play. There is no real money involved, no download required, and no registration needed. You can start playing instantly in your web browser with unlimited play-money credits. Browse all available games in our complete game index.
No, all games are browser-based and require no download or installation. Pure Video Poker works directly in your web browser on desktop computers, tablets, and mobile phones. Simply visit the game lobby and start playing any of the 120 available games.
Pure Video Poker offers 120 video poker variants organized across four categories:
Each variant has its own unique pay table and strategy. See the full list on our sitemap.
Jacks or Better is the most popular and foundational video poker variant. The name refers to the minimum winning hand: a pair of Jacks or higher (Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Aces). The full-pay version (9/6) offers a return-to-player (RTP) of 99.54% with optimal strategy, making it one of the best games in any casino.
It uses a standard 52-card deck with no wild cards, making it the ideal starting point for beginners. Multiple pay table variations are available including 9/5, 8/6, and 8/5 versions.
Deuces Wild is a popular video poker variant where all four 2s (deuces) act as wild cards, substituting for any other card to form winning hands. Because wilds make hands easier to complete, the minimum winning hand is typically Three of a Kind.
The full-pay version offers an RTP over 100.76% with perfect strategy, meaning skilled players have a mathematical edge. Explore more wild card variants in our Wild Card category.
Bonus Poker is a Jacks or Better variant that offers enhanced payouts for certain four-of-a-kind hands. Four Aces pays 80 coins (vs. 25 in standard JoB), while four 2s/3s/4s pays 40 coins. The trade-off is slightly reduced payouts on full houses and flushes.
The full-pay 8/5 version offers an RTP of 99.17% with optimal strategy. Browse all bonus variants including Double Bonus, Double Double Bonus, and more in our Bonus Poker category.
Joker Poker (also called Joker Wild) is played with a 53-card deck that includes one Joker as a wild card. The Joker can substitute for any card to complete a winning hand. Depending on the variant, the minimum winning hand may be a pair of Kings or better, or Two Pair.
The additional wild card creates more winning possibilities and changes optimal strategy compared to standard games. See all variants in our Joker Poker category, including Double Joker and Deuces and Joker Wild.
The numbers like 9/6 or 8/5 are shorthand for the pay table, specifically the payouts for a Full House and a Flush (per coin with one coin bet). For example, 9/6 Jacks or Better pays 9 coins for a Full House and 6 coins for a Flush, which is the full-pay (best) version.
An 8/5 machine pays 8 for a Full House and 5 for a Flush, offering a lower return. Always look for the highest pay table numbers available. Learn more about reading pay tables in our How to Play guide.
A wild card is a card that can substitute for any other card to complete a winning hand. In Deuces Wild, all four 2s are wild. In Joker Poker, the Joker is wild. Some games even have multiple wild ranks like Deuces and Joker Wild.
Wild cards significantly change the game strategy and pay tables. Games with wild cards typically require stronger minimum hands to win (e.g., Three of a Kind instead of a pair) because hands are easier to make. Browse all wild card games in our Wild Card category.
RTP (Return to Player) is the theoretical percentage of all wagered money that a game will pay back to players over time. For example, a game with 99.54% RTP will return $99.54 for every $100 wagered on average.
Video poker typically offers some of the highest RTPs of any casino game. Full-pay Deuces Wild has an RTP of 100.76%, and full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better is 99.54%. See our complete Odds & RTP Guide for detailed comparisons.
The video poker games with the best odds include:
Games with RTPs over 100% give the player a mathematical edge with perfect strategy. However, achieving these returns requires learning and applying optimal strategy for each specific game variant. See the full odds comparison.
Yes, strategy is critically important in video poker. Unlike slot machines where outcomes are purely random, video poker involves decisions about which cards to hold and discard. The correct strategy can reduce the house edge to under 0.5% (or even give the player an edge in some games).
Each game variant has its own optimal strategy. Learning proper hold/discard decisions is the single most impactful thing you can do to improve your results. Read our Video Poker Strategy Guide to get started.
With optimal strategy, a Royal Flush occurs approximately once every 40,000 hands in standard Jacks or Better. The exact frequency varies by game variant and the strategy used.
In Deuces Wild, a natural Royal Flush is rarer (about 1 in 49,000), but wild Royal Flushes occur more frequently. The Royal Flush typically pays 4,000 coins with max bet (800 coins times 5), which is why betting maximum coins is recommended. See our Odds Guide for more details.
Yes, betting the maximum number of coins (usually 5) is strongly recommended in video poker. The reason is that the Royal Flush payout is disproportionately higher at max bet.
With 1–4 coins, a Royal Flush typically pays 250 per coin (250, 500, 750, 1000). But with 5 coins, it pays 4,000 instead of the expected 1,250. This bonus payout significantly improves the overall RTP of the game. If max bet is too expensive, move to a lower denomination machine rather than betting fewer coins. Learn more in our Strategy Guide.
Variance (or volatility) describes how much your results fluctuate around the expected return. Low-variance games like Jacks or Better pay out small amounts frequently, creating a smoother experience. High-variance games like Double Double Bonus Poker have larger jackpots for rare hands but pay less for common hands, leading to bigger swings.
Your bankroll management should account for variance: high-variance games require a larger bankroll to weather losing streaks. See our Odds & RTP Guide for variance comparisons across games.
No, Pure Video Poker is strictly a free, play-money site for entertainment and practice purposes only. No real money is wagered or won. This makes it an ideal place to learn video poker strategy, try different game variants, and practice optimal play before visiting a real casino. All games use virtual credits with no monetary value.
Yes, all 120 video poker games are fully responsive and optimized for mobile play. The games work on smartphones and tablets running iOS, Android, or any other mobile operating system with a modern web browser. The interface automatically adapts to your screen size, providing a comfortable playing experience on any device. No app download is needed — just open the game lobby and start playing.
Yes, all games use a standard random number generator (RNG) to deal cards from a properly shuffled virtual deck. Each game uses either a standard 52-card deck or a 53-card deck (for Joker games), with each card having an equal probability of being dealt.
The odds are mathematically identical to those of properly functioning casino video poker machines. The pay tables are clearly displayed for each game so you always know the exact payouts before you play.
Any modern web browser will work, including Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. The games use standard HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, so no special plugins or extensions are needed. For the best experience, keep your browser updated to the latest version. The games work on both desktop and mobile browsers.
A “full pay” machine refers to a video poker game with the best available pay table for that specific variant. For example, full-pay Jacks or Better is the 9/6 version (9 coins for Full House, 6 for Flush), offering 99.54% RTP. Full-pay Deuces Wild pays 25-15-9-5-3-2-1 and offers 100.76% RTP.
Lower pay versions (“short pay”) reduce one or more payouts, significantly lowering the RTP. Always seek out full-pay versions when possible. Compare pay tables in our Odds & RTP Guide.
Expected value (EV) is the mathematical average outcome of a decision over the long run. In video poker, EV is used to determine the best cards to hold. For each possible hold combination, you calculate the average return from all possible draw outcomes. The hold combination with the highest EV is the optimal play.
For example, holding a high pair might have an EV of 1.5 coins, while holding a four-card flush draw might have an EV of 1.2 coins, making the pair the better hold. Learn more about EV and other terms in our Video Poker Glossary.
A video poker pay table lists all winning hands and their payouts. It is typically displayed at the top of the game screen. Each row shows a hand rank (e.g., Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind) and columns show the payout for 1 through 5 coins bet.
The hands are listed from highest-paying to lowest-paying. To evaluate a pay table, compare the Full House and Flush payouts to identify the version (e.g., 9/6, 8/5). Higher numbers mean better returns for the player. See our How to Play Guide for a detailed pay table walkthrough.