How to Play Video Poker Online

Before You Start Playing

Ahead of choosing a game to play and placing any bets, we believe it’s important to understand the most important gameplay terms associated with video poker. We’ve listed these terms below, explaining what they mean.

Video Poker – A single-player online casino game based on five-card draw poker, where players bet, hold, and draw to form winning hands.
Paytable – A chart showing all the possible winning hands in video poker and their payouts, which are often based on the odds for each hand.
Random Number Generator (RNG) – The software featured in all video poker game variants at online casinos, ensuring that cards are dealt randomly and fairly in each hand.
Max Bet – The highest wager available per hand in video poker games played at online casinos.
Min Bet – The lowest wager available per hand in video poker games played at online casinos.
Hand – The combination of cards dealt and played in each round of a video poker game.
Deal – The initial distribution of five or three cards to the player at the start of a round. Number of cards dealt can depend on the game variant.
Draw – The second phase of play following the initial deal in video poker, where players can discard and replace cards to improve their hand.
Royal Flush – The highest ranking hand in video poker games, made with 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of the same suit. EG: all Spades, Diamonds, Clubs, Hearts.
Credits – The betting units often used in video poker, with each credit representing a portion of your bankroll or balance.

No matter how confident you feel while playing video poker online, remember to gamble responsibly and stick to your wagering budget. Should you experience problems, organisations such as GAMSTOP in the UK can help you control your online gambling activities.

Step 1: You Need an Online Casino Account

If you want to play online video poker with real money, first you need to open an online casino account, which provides access to the full range of games available.

The Login Screen of an Online Casino — **In the Photo:** Example of an Online Casino Login Screen

Important: We only recommend playing online video poker at casino sites that are licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. This ensures that video games are safe to play and have been tested to verify fairness.

To help you choose where to play, our experts have shortlisted the best online video poker casinos for UK players. These rankings are based on criteria such as the number and variety of games available, desktop and mobile compatibility, payout rates and staking options.

Step 2: Choose the Video Poker Game You Wish to Play

Most online casino sites only tend to have a handful of video poker games available, but it’s worth taking your time to look at the variants on offer. Each will offer different gameplay features and payout rates.

The Video Poker Game Library at an Online Casino — **In the Photo:** Online Casino Video Poker Games Library

Step 3: Check the Video Poker Game Rules & Paytable

Before placing your bets, take a moment to check the game rules and paytable, given these can differ slightly between video poker game variants. Look for the “i” or “?” icons on the game display. Pressing these will display the game information pages.

Jacks or Better Video Poker Paytable — **In the Photo:** Jacks or Better video poker game paytable, highlighted in red. The paytable for video poker games is usually always visible in the gameplay screen.

Step 4: Set Your Staking Budget

Online video poker games always have minimum and maximum bet settings per hand, so check they are set to the correct amounts you wish to wager, before each deal of the cards.

Bet Amount Per Hand in Video Poker — **In the Photo:** Players can always change the amounts they wish to bet per hand in video poker, and the total bet amount will always be displayed.

Be aware that multi-hand variants require a bet on every hand you’re dealt, which inevitably leads to higher amounts being wagered. Take care when choosing how many hands you want to play at the same time, and check the total bet amounts before proceeding.

Step 5: Place Your Bets & Start Playing Video Poker

Once you’re comfortable with the game rules and betting options available, it’s time to start playing. In most video poker games, after choosing your betting options, you can simply press “Deal” for each new hand. This is followed by options to “Hold” cards you wish to keep, then “Draw” for the second and final deal.

Jacks or Better Gameplay — **In the Photo:** Three of a Kind Win Playing Jacks or Better

Video Poker Gameplay & Tips

Simplicity is what makes online video poker so appealing, and basic gameplay is typically the same across most variants. Your main aim when playing is to form the highest value poker hands. Take a look at the images below, highlighting some aspects of online video poker gameplay, accompanied by a few tips to help you along.

In the Photo: In First Person Video Poker by Evolution, players have the option to choose different paytable and gameplay variants within the same session. These include Jacks or Better, Tens or Better, Deuces Wild, Bonus Poker, and Double Double Bonus. Tip: Jacks or Better has more favourable payout rates.
In the Photo: Deuces Wild Multihand by Playtech offers players the chance to play up to 25 hands at the same time, with deuces (twos) acting as wild cards. However, three of a kind is the lowest payout, and you must bet on every hand you play. Tip: Multihand gameplay comes with higher risks versus rewards.
In the Photo: In Jacks or Better by Games Global, players can gamble their winnings for double the amount in a mini game. Tip: The lower the drawn card, the better the odds of picking a higher value card from those that are face down.

These images highlight just a few aspects of gameplay. Remember to check the paytable and game rules information page within each video poker game, which will explain all the features available, including the main winning combinations and any additional options available.

Online Video Poker Game Variants and Special Rules

Although the basic gameplay and visual style remains mostly the same, different online poker variants do add extra features and options, including increased payouts for some of the strongest hand values. These are some of the most popular:

Jacks or Better – Most popular video poker variant with the best payout rates. The lowest winning hand must have a pair of Jacks.
Tens or Better – Similar to Jacks or Better, but with the lowest payout offered for a pair of 10s.
Deuces Wild – Video poker variant in which deuces (2s) act as wild cards, giving the player increased options and strategies to form winning hands.
Joker Poker – Video poker variant with a single Joker increasing the deck to 53 cards, acting as a wild card to help form winning hands.
Bonus Poker – Similar to Jacks or better, but with increased payouts on Four of a Kind hands.
Double Bonus Poker – Video poker variant which offers extra payouts on Four of a Kind hands, especially face cards like Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces.
Double Double Bonus – Video Poker variant similar to Double Bonus, with increased bonus payouts on all Four of a Kind hands.
All Aces – Video poker variant that pays especially well for hands with four Aces, while other hands follow the Jacks or Better payout structure.
Aces and Faces – Four of a Kind hands with Aces or face cards (Jacks, Queens, Kings), offer higher payouts in this video poker variant.
Pick’em Poker – Video poker variant where players can choose one of two available face-up cards to complete their own hand.

Heath Chesters Author and Casino Analyst

About the Author

Online video poker games offer simple gameplay. The higher the value of the hand you build, the better the payouts. Different variants add more gameplay options and features, but I prefer Jacks or Better for the highest payout rates above 99% RTP on average.