Video poker hold calculator
Tap five cards and see every possible hold ranked by its exact average return.
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How the calculator works
- Pick the game and pay table, for example full-pay Jacks or Better.
- Tap the five cards you were dealt.
- The calculator tries all thirty-two ways to hold or discard them.
- For each hold, it checks every possible draw from the forty-seven cards left in the deck and averages the payouts.
- The holds are listed from the highest average return to the lowest.
Returns are per coin bet and use the max-coin royal of 800 per coin, so play max coins to match the numbers.
How to read the results
| Hold | Average return | Cost vs best |
|---|---|---|
| J♠ J♥ | 1.537 | best |
| J♠ Q♠ K♠ | 1.488 | 4.8% |
| J♠ Q♠ J♥ | 1.416 | 12.0% |
| J♠ K♠ J♥ | 1.416 | 12.0% |
| J♠ J♥ 4♦ | 1.416 | 12.0% |
- Hold – the cards you keep.
- Average return – what that hold pays back per coin bet, on average, over all possible draws.
- Cost – how much less it returns than the top hold. The top hold costs nothing.
In this hand, compare the pair of jacks with the three cards to a spade royal: the list shows the pair pays more on average.
Example: break a pair for a royal draw
| Hold | Average return | Cost vs best |
|---|---|---|
| 10♥ J♥ Q♥ K♥ | 19.660 | best |
| K♥ K♣ | 1.537 | 1812.3% |
| 10♥ K♥ K♣ | 1.416 | 1824.3% |
| J♥ K♥ K♣ | 1.416 | 1824.3% |
| Q♥ K♥ K♣ | 1.416 | 1824.3% |
Here you can keep the pair of kings or the ten, jack, queen and king of hearts. The list shows the four cards to a royal flush return more, even though you throw away a paying pair.
The same five cards can rank differently in another game, such as Deuces Wild, so always pick the right game first.
Perfect holds and the long run
Use the calculator to learn the hard hands, then test yourself with the strategy guide.
Playing the top hold on every hand, full-pay Jacks or Better returns 99.54%. The house still keeps 0.46% of all money bet over time.
A worse pay table lowers the return even with perfect holds: the version that pays less for a full house and a flush returns 97.30%. Compare games on the pay tables page.
Questions
How does a video poker hold calculator find the best hold?
It tries all thirty-two ways to keep or discard your five cards. For each one it checks every possible draw from the forty-seven remaining cards and averages the payouts, then ranks the holds by that average.
What does the cost column mean?
Cost is how much less a hold returns per coin bet than the best hold for that hand. A cost of zero means it is the best hold.
Does using the calculator mean I will win?
No. The best hold only gives the highest possible return, such as 99.54% for full-pay Jacks or Better, and the house edge still wins over time.
Why does the best hold change between games?
Each game has a different pay table and some have wild cards. A hold that is best in Jacks or Better can be a mistake in Deuces Wild, where every deuce is wild.