Best Video Poker Games Ranked by RTP
What this guide covers
Video poker's RTP varies more by pay table than by game name, which makes a straightforward ranking tricky — but a useful one is still possible if you're clear about what's being ranked. This guide orders the major variants by their best-case, full-pay theoretical RTP with perfect strategy. That "best-case" qualifier matters throughout: these numbers represent the top of what each game can offer, not what any specific machine in front of you is actually paying. For the underlying math, see video poker odds and RTP explained; for a rundown of the variants themselves, see video poker variants explained.
The ranking, approximately
At the top sits Full Pay Deuces Wild, which can reach approximately 100.76% RTP with perfect strategy — a genuinely positive-expectation game on paper, made possible because all four deuces are wild and concentrate value into bigger, wild-boosted hands.
Just below that, full-pay versions of Double Bonus and Double Double Bonus Poker land in a range commonly cited from the high-90s up to just over 100%, depending on the exact pay table tier you're looking at — these games boost specific four-of-a-kind payouts substantially, which can push RTP very high on their best available tables, though the range varies more from version to version than Jacks or Better's does.
Next comes full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better, at approximately 99.54% — the most reliable benchmark in video poker precisely because "9/6" is a widely used, easily verified shorthand for its full-pay table, and because full-pay versions of this game are comparatively easy to find.
Bonus Poker at its best available pay tables sits in a broadly similar range to 9/6 Jacks or Better, sometimes slightly above and sometimes slightly below depending on its exact payout tiers for four of a kind versus full house and flush.
At the bottom of any realistic ranking sit the short-pay versions of all of the above — tables that shave payouts on full houses, flushes, or four of a kinds to boost the casino's margin. A 6/5 Jacks or Better table, for instance, drops all the way to roughly 95% RTP, despite being built on the exact same game as its 99.54% full-pay counterpart.
Read this ranking with a large caveat
Every figure above describes the best-available, full-pay version of each game. Most real-world machines — on casino floors and in online lobbies alike — are not full pay. A casino can offer "Double Double Bonus Poker" at a pay table that returns meaningfully less than 9/6 Jacks or Better, simply by trimming a few payout tiers, and the game's name alone gives you no way to tell. This is the single most important thing to take from any RTP ranking of video poker games: the name tells you the game's structure and qualifying hand, not its RTP. Only the specific pay table posted on the machine — the payout schedule for a full house, flush, and the various four-of-a-kind tiers — tells you where a given table actually lands. Always check the pay table before assuming a game's reputation for high RTP applies to the specific machine you're sitting at.
RTP isn't the whole story
A ranking by RTP alone also leaves out variance, which matters just as much for most players' actual experience. Jacks or Better, despite ranking lower on raw RTP than Deuces Wild or the Bonus Poker family, is meaningfully lower variance — it pays more often on modest hands, producing a smoother session with fewer long dry stretches. Deuces Wild and the Double Bonus family concentrate more of their return into bigger, rarer hands, which can mean a higher ceiling but also longer stretches without a payout along the way. A player with a smaller bankroll or a shorter session in mind may get more practical value from a lower-ranked-by-RTP but lower-variance game than from chasing the top of this list. RTP measures long-run average return; it doesn't measure how bumpy the road to that average actually is.
How to use this ranking
Treat this list as a starting point for which games are worth learning strategy for and worth hunting a full-pay table on — not as a promise about any specific machine you'll find. Before sitting down at any video poker game, check its posted pay table against the full-pay benchmark for that variant. If you're new to the format entirely, it's worth starting with best video poker variants to play online for a broader look at availability alongside the numbers here.
Frequently asked questions
Which video poker game has the highest possible RTP? Full Pay Deuces Wild, at approximately 100.76% with perfect strategy — though full-pay tables for it are comparatively rare to find.
Is 9/6 Jacks or Better still worth playing if other games rank higher? Yes — its full-pay tables are far more common to actually find, and its lower variance makes it a smoother, more forgiving game for most players regardless of where it sits on a theoretical ranking.
Does a game's name tell me its RTP? No. The name tells you the game's rules and qualifying hand; only the specific posted pay table tells you the actual RTP of the machine in front of you.
Should I always choose the highest-RTP game available? Not necessarily — variance matters too. A lower-RTP but lower-variance game like Jacks or Better can be the more practical choice for a limited bankroll or session length.
