Game type
Video Poker
Video poker is the casino game where the pay table tells you almost everything. You are dealt five cards, choose which to hold, draw replacements once, and are paid by a fixed table for the final hand. Because the deck is a standard 52 cards (plus jokers in some variants) and every payout is printed on the screen, the long-run return of a machine played with optimal strategy can be calculated exactly. Verdict first: read the pay table before you play, because two machines with the same name can return very different amounts.
2 reports on fileLatest filed
Filed under Video Poker
Newest first.
| No. | Report | Topic | Filed by | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 189 |  Video Deuces Wild Poker: How Four of a Kind Sets Return Full-pay Deuces Wild returns 100.76% on optimal play. Cut four of a kind by one coin and it drops to 99.73%. Here is why that line rules the paytable. | VPVideo Poker | Filed by The SonicBet Desk | |
| No. 187 |  Free Jacks or Better Video Poker: Practice the Pay Table 9/6 Jacks or Better returns 99.5439% against 97.298% for 8/5. Use free play to read the pay table and drill the holds optimal strategy ranks. | VPVideo Poker | Filed by The SonicBet Desk |
How does the pay table change the return?
Each line of the table is weighted by how often that hand occurs. Cut a common hand's payout by one coin and the return drops sharply. In Jacks or Better, the version that pays 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush (9/6) returns about 99.54 per cent with optimal play; the 8/5 version returns about 97.30 per cent. The cards and the strategy are almost identical. Only two numbers on the screen changed. Our report on free Jacks or Better shows how to read the table and what each version costs.
How do wild card games differ?
In Deuces Wild every two is wild, so the hand ranking shifts: four of a kind becomes common, and new hands such as five of a kind and a wild royal flush enter the table. The pay line for four of a kind carries much of the weight, which is why full-pay Deuces Wild can return slightly over 100 per cent with perfect strategy while a version paying one coin less on that line falls under it. The Deuces Wild report walks through that line by line.
Does strategy matter in video poker?
Yes, more than in almost any other casino game. The published return assumes you make the mathematically best hold on every hand. Mistakes, such as keeping a kicker or breaking a made hand for a long shot the table does not reward, cost return on every hand they occur. Free play is a sensible way to practise those decisions before any money is involved. Strategy cannot change the pay table, though: on a short table, perfect play just loses more slowly.
How SonicBet covers video poker
Every report starts from the published pay table and the return figures derived from it, then explains which hold decisions the optimal strategy changes. We do not claim hands-on play. Start with the Jacks or Better report, then Deuces Wild, and compare with roulette, where the edge is fixed by the wheel rather than your decisions.