Video poker sits in a curious spot within the Australian pokies landscape. It borrows the rhythm of a slot machine but hands the player something far more valuable: genuine decisions that shift the odds. While most club and pub floors are dominated by reel spinners, video poker variants such as Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild and Bonus Poker attract a devoted crowd who prefer strategy over pure chance. Discover further information on SCR66 pokies.
Mastering the game is not about luck. It is about recognising which cards to hold, understanding payout tables, and managing a bankroll with discipline. The tips below cover the essentials that separate casual punters from players who consistently squeeze more value from every hand.
Learn The Pay Table Before You Insert A Single Dollar
The pay table is the single most important piece of information on any video poker machine. Two machines that look identical can carry wildly different returns depending on how the full house, flush and royal flush payouts are structured. A 9/6 Jacks or Better game returns roughly 99.5% to the player, while an 8/5 version drops to about 97.3%. That gap compounds quickly across a session.
Always scan the top of the screen first. Look for the numbers that sit beside “full house” and “flush” , these two figures tell you most of what you need to know. If the full house pays nine and the flush pays six, you have found a premium machine. If those numbers fall to eight and five, consider walking to the next bank of machines.
Progressive jackpots add another layer. A linked royal flush prize can push the expected return above 100%, but only once the meter climbs high enough. Calculate whether the current jackpot justifies the reduced base payouts, because many progressives shave value from lower hands to fund the top prize.
- 9/6 Jacks or Better , approximately 99.5% return
- 8/5 Jacks or Better , approximately 97.3% return
- Full pay Deuces Wild , approximately 100.8% return with perfect play
- Bonus Poker 8/5 , approximately 99.2% return
Memorise Basic Strategy For Your Chosen Variant
Every video poker variant has an optimal strategy chart, and the differences between them are not cosmetic. Holding a low pair in Jacks or Better is usually correct, but in Deuces Wild the same hand may warrant a completely different play because wild cards change the value of every combination.
The good news is that strategy charts are short. Most contain fewer than twenty rules, and a few hours of study can lift your return by several percentage points. Players who ignore strategy typically give up between two and five percent of their expected return, which over hundreds of hands represents a substantial sum.
Start with one variant and learn it thoroughly. Jumping between games before a chart is committed to memory usually leads to costly mistakes. Once Jacks or Better feels automatic, branching into Bonus Poker or Double Double Bonus becomes far easier.
Manage Your Bankroll And Session Length
Video poker is a game of small edges played over many hands. Even a 99.5% return machine carries significant short-term variance, and royal flushes arrive roughly once every 40,000 hands on average. That means your bankroll needs to absorb long dry spells without forcing you to abandon correct strategy.
A sensible rule is to bring at least 300 betting units for a session. If you are playing five dollars per hand, that suggests a bankroll of around 1,500 AUD. This buffer keeps you in the game through normal swings and prevents the temptation to chase losses with reckless holds.
Set a loss limit and a win limit before you start, and treat both with equal seriousness. Walking away when ahead is just as disciplined as stopping when behind. Track your sessions over time so you can see whether your actual results match the theoretical return of the machines you favour.
Finally, choose venues that offer fair pay tables and comfortable surroundings. Many Australian clubs run promotions and loyalty schemes that add value on top of the base game, so it pays to compare what is available locally before committing to a regular spot.
