Video poker apps guide

Video poker apps: what you're actually playing

Video poker is a single-player card game run by a random number generator. You get five cards, choose which to keep, replace the rest once, and get paid according to a fixed table of hands. There's no dealer to beat and no other players, so the only things that decide your long-run cost are the pay table and how well you choose your holds.

That makes it different from slots, even though it often sits near them in an app's lobby. A slot's maths is hidden inside the reels, while a video poker game shows you its pay table on screen. It also differs from table games such as Three Card Poker, where you play against a dealer's hand. For the wider picture, start at our mobile casino games hub.

Every version has a house edge, and over time losses are the likely result. What video poker offers is transparency: if you can read the table, you can see roughly what you're paying.

How to read a video poker pay table: 9/6, 8/5 and more

Video poker players name pay tables by two numbers: what a full house pays and what a flush pays, per coin bet. "9/6 Jacks or Better" pays 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush. "8/5" pays 8 and 5. Everything else on the table may be identical, yet that one-unit cut on each hand lowers the return by more than two percentage points.

With optimal strategy, this table returns 99.54%, according to Wizard of Odds' 9/6 Jacks or Better analysis (opens in a new tab). Drop to 8 for a full house and 5 for a flush and the return falls to 97.3%. The cards and the rules are the same; only the pay is different.

Video poker games compared: return and house edge

The figures below come from Wizard of Odds' video poker summary tables (opens in a new tab) and strategy pages. Each assumes perfect strategy on every hand and the maximum-coin bet. The house edge column is simply 100% minus the return.

Wizard of Odds also lists a few pay tables, such as full-pay Deuces Wild (100.76%), the best Joker Poker table (100.64%) and 10/7 Double Bonus (100.17%), that return slightly over 100% in theory. Those figures need flawless play on every hand, and we found no published source showing which UK apps, if any, run them. Treat video poker as entertainment you pay for, not as a way to make money.

Jacks or Better, Bonus Poker, Deuces Wild and Joker Poker explained

Most video poker apps carry a handful of variants. They share the five-card draw but change which hands pay and how much. Joker Poker alone has many tables; Wizard of Odds lists its Joker Poker pay tables (opens in a new tab) with returns from 100.64% down to 94.00%.

Bonus variants move value from common hands to rarer four of a kinds. That makes results swing more from session to session, a quality known as volatility, even where the long-run return is similar.

How to play video poker in an app, hand by hand

1. Open the game and tap into its pay table or help screen to check the version and return figure.
2. Set your coin value and number of coins. The total stake for the hand shows before you deal.
3. Deal. Five cards appear face up.
4. Tap each card you want to keep. The game marks held cards; tap again to release one.
5. Draw. Every card you didn't hold is replaced from the same virtual deck.
6. Your final hand is paid from the pay table, and the next hand only starts when you tap again.

Each deal is a fresh, randomly shuffled deck. Under the Gambling Commission's rules, games can't adjust results to hit a target return, which is covered in our page on RNG casino games.

Coins, bet levels and why the royal flush pay matters

The headline returns assume you bet the maximum number of coins. On the classic tables, the royal flush pays 800 per coin only at maximum coins and pays less at lower coin counts. Royals are rare, but they carry enough of the total return that skipping max coins lowers the game's return.

Apps handle this in different ways. Some let you choose coins and coin value separately, while others offer a single bet slider. If you want a lower stake, reducing the coin value while keeping maximum coins usually keeps the full pay table in force. Check how your game handles it in its help screen rather than assuming.

What video poker costs in pounds

Expected loss is the stake times the house edge. At £1 per hand, the gap between a good and a poor pay table becomes obvious. The 200-hand column is an illustration only, and these are long-run averages that any single session can beat or miss by a wide margin.

The weakest table in that list costs about 13 times as much per hand as 9/6 Jacks or Better. Your own results will also be worse than the table if you make strategy mistakes, because every published figure assumes perfect holds. For the same comparison across other games, see our house edge by game page.

Strategy charts, mistakes and the limits of skill

Each variant and pay table has its own best way to play every five-card starting hand. Wizard of Odds publishes strategy charts, for example for full-pay Deuces Wild (opens in a new tab), where the right hold can change because of the wild cards. Following a chart reduces the house edge towards the published figure; it never turns the game into a reliable source of income.

• Use a chart for your exact variant. A Jacks or Better chart gives wrong answers in Deuces Wild.
• Slow down on close decisions. UK rules give every hand at least a few seconds anyway, so there's no reason to rush a hold.
• Ignore patterns. Each deal is independent; a run of losing hands doesn't make a royal more likely.

If you want to check whether a game's return matches what you expect, our guide to finding a game's RTP in an app shows where operators usually put it.

Video poker on a touch screen: practical tips

Video poker suits phones well: five cards fit across the screen and the controls are simple. A few details make it smoother.

• Check held cards before drawing. A mis-tap is the most common error on a small screen, so look for the hold marker on every card you meant to keep.
• Try both orientations. Some games show the pay table only in landscape or shrink it in portrait.
• Keep the stake visible. If the bet control sits away from the cards, check it before each deal.
• Older phones work fine. RNG card games are light compared with live streams; see our guide to casino apps on older phones if your device is a few years old.

Because it's quick and low-data, video poker can also eat time without you noticing. The session clock and net position that UK apps must display are worth a glance between hands, and our budgeting guide has ideas for setting a limit you'll stick to.

UK rules for video poker apps

Video poker in a UK app falls under the Gambling Commission's remote technical standards. The main points:

• Pay table and return before you play. Under RTS 3 (opens in a new tab), game rules, payouts and the RTP or likelihood of winning must be available before you commit to a bet. Our RTP information rules page explains this.
• No autoplay. Since 17 January 2025 autoplay is banned on all online casino games, so each hand needs your tap. See our page on the autoplay ban.
• Minimum game speed. Casino games other than slots must take at least 5 seconds per game cycle.
• No adaptive games. Outcomes can't be steered to hit a target return, and rules or payouts can't change while a game is available.
• Stake limits. The £5 and £2 limits cover online slots, which the Commission defines as casino games using a reel format. Its guidance names roulette and blackjack as outside the limits but doesn't mention video poker, so check the stake range your app shows. Our slot stake limits page has the details.

On RTP more generally, the version of a game you play is what counts, not the device. Our answer to whether RTP is lower on casino apps explains why the help screen is the place to check.

Finding video poker in UK casino apps

Our partners don't publish lists of their video poker titles or pay tables, so check the app's game lobby, usually under table games or a search for "poker", before you deposit. Our best video poker apps list compares apps on this.

The Casumo app review covers its combined casino and sportsbook app, which runs on older iPhones back to iOS 15. The 10bet app review explains its sportsbook-first layout. The Coral Casino app review covers a standalone casino app that needs iOS 18. If high returns are your priority, our high RTP apps list is another useful starting point.

Video poker and welcome offers on casino apps

Be realistic about bonuses here. The three welcome offers below are designed for slots, and video poker is commonly excluded or counts for less towards wagering, so they add little for a video poker player. 18+, terms apply.

• Casumo: new customers who opt in can get a 50% bonus up to £100 on a first deposit of at least £20. The bonus must be wagered 10x within 7 days, bets are capped at £5 while it's active, and game, play and payment restrictions apply.
• 10bet: new UK customers who select the casino welcome bonus when signing up and deposit within 7 days get a 100% match up to £25. Wagering is 10x on slots within 3 days, the most you can win from the bonus is £1,000, and Skrill and Neteller deposits are excluded.
• Coral Casino: deposit and bet £10 or more on slots to receive 100 free spins (10p each) on selected games, available from 1 October 2026 to 1 February 2027. Accept within 48 hours and use within 7 days; winnings from the spins have no wagering, and some payment types such as Neteller, PayPal and prepaid cards don't qualify.

For a video poker player, the better test of an app is whether its lobby carries the variants you like with strong pay tables, and whether its deposit limits and payout times suit you.

18+. Every casino game has a built-in house edge, so over time you should expect to lose what you stake. Set a budget before you play and stop when it’s gone: safer gambling tools and support. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.