Video Poker Strategy Charts Explained

What a strategy chart actually is

A video poker strategy chart is a ranked list of hand types and hold situations, ordered from highest to lowest expected value, built specifically for one game and one pay table. It isn't a general set of poker principles — it's the output of running the math on every possible five-card hand and every one of the 32 possible hold combinations (2^5, since each of the five cards can be either held or discarded) and recording which hold produces the highest expected value for each situation. The chart is simply that math, condensed into a format a player can reference quickly. For the underlying strategy that a Jacks or Better chart encodes, see the Jacks or Better strategy guide; for the general principles behind chart-based play, see the video poker strategy guide.

How to actually use one

Using a chart while playing is a three-step process. First, look at the five cards you were dealt and identify what type of hand or partial hand it represents — a made straight, a four-card flush draw, a low pair, and so on. Second, scan the chart from the top down and find the highest-ranked category that actually matches your hand. Charts are ordered by expected value, so the earliest matching entry is always the correct one, even if a lower entry on the chart also technically describes part of your hand. Third, hold the cards the chart specifies for that category and draw the rest.

The "scan from the top" part matters more than it might seem. A hand can often be described multiple ways — a hand with a low pair might also contain three cards toward a flush — and the chart's ranking exists precisely to resolve which description should win. Reading a chart correctly means always taking the first, highest-ranked match, not whichever category catches your eye first.

Why charts are pay-table-specific

This is the single most important thing to understand about strategy charts: they are not interchangeable between pay tables, let alone between games. A chart built for a 9/6 Jacks or Better pay table (full house pays 9-for-1, flush pays 6-for-1) doesn't exactly match a chart for an 8/5 table, even though the two games look identical on the surface and share the same basic hierarchy. The gap widens further with games like Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, or Double Double Bonus Poker, where different payout structures for four of a kind genuinely reorder certain holds. And a Jacks or Better chart of any kind is close to useless for Deuces Wild, where wild cards completely restructure which hands are even worth pursuing.

Before trusting a chart at a real machine or online table, confirm two things: that it's built for the specific game you're playing, and that it matches the specific pay table on that particular machine or platform, since even two cabinets both labeled "Jacks or Better" can carry different pay tables side by side in the same casino.

Common chart formats

Most charts take one of two layouts. The simplest is a single ranked list running from best hold (royal flush) down to worst (draw five new cards), with every hand type in between ordered by expected value — this is the format most beginners should start with, since it forces you to scan the full list and find your match. Some charts instead group entries by dealt-hand type first (pairs, straight draws, flush draws, and so on) and rank within each group, which can be faster to reference once you're already familiar with the general hierarchy but is easier to misread if you jump straight to a subsection without checking whether a higher-ranked category elsewhere also applies.

One detail worth knowing regardless of format: most published charts assume max-coin play, typically 5 coins per hand. This matters because a royal flush's payout structure changes dramatically at max coin — roughly 800-for-1 per coin versus roughly 250-for-1 per coin below max coin — and a chart's underlying expected value calculations are usually built around that max-coin assumption. Playing below max coin can technically shift the optimal hold in edge cases involving a partial royal draw, though this is a minor effect compared to the much larger practical mistake of not betting max coin at all.

Using a chart while you play isn't cheating

It's worth saying plainly: keeping a strategy chart open in another tab, or using an on-screen strategy hint feature that many licensed online platforms offer, is a completely legitimate way to learn correct play. It's not a shortcut to feel guilty about — professional and serious recreational players alike reference charts constantly, and the entire point of the chart is to encode math that's genuinely difficult to hold in your head across every possible five-card hand. If you're using a chart to check your play after the fact rather than during it, how to use a video poker strategy calculator covers a more interactive way to do the same thing, working from your exact hand and pay table rather than a static reference list.

Getting comfortable without the chart

The realistic path most players take is starting with a chart open every hand, gradually recognizing the recurring categories — made hands, high pairs, four-card flush draws — without needing to check, and eventually only reaching for the chart on genuinely close or unfamiliar hands. That's a normal progression, not a sign you should have skipped the chart altogether. Understanding video poker hand rankings explained alongside a chart makes the categories click faster, since you're pairing the ranked hold list with a clear sense of what each hand type is actually worth.