Video Poker Live Strategy Guide – Rules, Stats, and RTP Explained

Evolution Video Poker Live has hit the web, and it's as good as we expected. It's also a completely new concept in the live casino landscape, leaving many players to look for a viable Video Poker Live strategy. If this applies to you, our guide can help you out.

The game allows all players to choose between 5 different variations of the rules. The gameplay is largely the same, but each variant offers different payouts for different outcomes. That's why the best Video Poker Live strategy depends on the set of rules you're using.

In this in-depth guide, we'll go through all of these variants and how you should play them. We'll also compare the different payables and describe the pros and cons of each option.

Video Poker strategies are already established. After all, the game has existed for centuries before coming to live online casinos. Follow the simple steps explained in this guide for the best results.

Strategy Basics

Much like blackjack has an optimal strategy, there is a proven strategy for Video Poker live. Every situation you could find yourself in has a “right move”, so to speak. Of course, the specifics depend on the variant you’re playing. Before we dive into the guides, though, we’ll make a few important notes.

If you’re looking for basics on how to play Video Poker Live from Evolution, you won’t find them here. You can check out our review of the game for a complete gameplay guide and a breakdown of the rules.

Secondly, we’ll note that these Video Poker strategies do not necessarily apply to all video poker online games out there. What you learn is mostly applicable. However, the exact steps only work if the game you’re playing has the exact same payouts and rules as Evolution’s title. Moreover, our tips definitely won’t work for traditional casino poker variants such as Three-card Poker, Caribbean Stud, or Casino Hold’em.

That said, most of these tips will work for Playtech’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire Video Poker Live. Playtech used the same variants of video poker, after all.

We’ll also assume you’re familiar with some poker basics, such as how poker hands work and rank. If not, check out this guide to poker hands.

Lastly, a basic understanding of gambling terms such as RTP will be immensely helpful. Here is a general guide to RTP in casino games, which also covers terms like volatility. If you need help with anything else, refer to the LiveCasinos.com blog for more such guides.

Picking the Right Strategy

To get the best results, simply follow the priority list we provided in our guide to Jacks or Better strategy. Simply hold the listed cards in the shown priority. If you opt for a different variant, refer to our guide and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Variants

Picking the rule variant is crucial if you want to see good Video Poker live results. The strategies you should use are different for most variants, although there are quite a few similarities between them.

Evolution Video Poker Live variations include:

Jacks or Better – a classic set of Video Poker rules with manageable volatility and the highest optimal RTP.
Tens or Better – almost identical to Jacks or Better, though slightly less volatile with much weaker RTP.
Deuces Wild – An exciting variant in which Deuces can replace any other type of card. Medium volatility and RTP.
Bonus Poker – Highly popular and fairly volatile variation with the second-highest RTP among the available options.
Double Double Bonus Poker – A super-charged variation of Bonus Poker rules with higher variance but lower RTP.

We’ll list the exact payouts and RTP rates for each variation below. The question of volatility should be your main concern when you’re choosing a variant. If you prefer more regular but smaller wins, go for something like Jacks or better. If you instead enjoy chasing massive payouts for unlikely hands, try something like Bonus Poker. The only one we would definitely avoid is Tens or Better. In practice, it’s just a weaker version of Jacks or Better.

Video Poker Live Jacks or Better Strategy

This is the version of Video Poker rules that we recommend to beginners. It’s the least volatile, offering solid rewards for weaker hands. It also has the highest RTP by a significant margin at 99.54%. This sort of incredible RTP rate is something we usually only see in blackjack.

The version of Jacks or Better in Evolution’s Video Poker Live is also known as 9/6. It’s a well-established game with clear rules on what you should do in which situation. Namely, you should hold the following cards in the order described below. The hands are listed in descending order of importance. If you have multiple options available, choose the one that’s higher on the list.

Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-of-a-kind. The strongest hands in the game are an obvious hold.
4 cards of a Royal Flush
Full House, Flush, Straight, Three-of-a-kind
4 cards of a Straight Flush
Two Pair
Pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Aces
3 cards of a Royal Flush
4 cards of a Flush
Pair of 10s or weaker
3 cards of a Straight Flush
Unsuited Ace, King, Queen, Jack
Two High cards of the same suit
4 Cards of a Straight
Unsuited King, Queen, Jack
Unsuited Queen, Jack
Suited Jack, 10
Unsuited King, Queen or King, Jack
Suited Queen, 10
Unsuited Ace and Face Card
Suited King, 10
High Card
3 cards of a Straight
Discard everything

It might look a bit complicated at first, but this live Video Poker strategy reliably works. Most of it makes a lot of sense, too. For instance, f you instantly have a hand stronger than a pair of Jacks, you should hold it unless you have a good shot at winning something even stronger. The order of importance is the most important part to remember.

Jacks or Better Payouts
Hand	Jacks or Better	Two Pair	Three of a Kind	Straight	Flush	Full House	Four of a Kind	Straight Flush	Royal Flush
Payout	1x	2x	3x	4x	6x	9x	25x	50x	800x

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Video Poker Live 10s or Better Strategy

The strategy for 10s or Better Video Poker is pretty much identical to the one for Jacks or Better. The only notable difference is that you should place more importance on pairs of 10s. In practice, simply use the same table as above but add Pairs of 10s to the fifth highest priority, as well as stronger pairs.

The paytable here is pretty much identical to Jacks or Better as well. The most obvious difference is that this version wins with Pairs of 10s. However, the winnings for Flush, Full House, and Four of a Kind are reduced.

Is it worth it? Nope.

All in all, we don’t recommend ever playing this variant. It has the worst RTP in Video Poker Live by a significant margin at 97.96%. It’s technically slightly less volatile than Jacks or Better, but the difference isn’t all that noticeable. The higher house edge definitely is, though.

10s or Better Payouts
Hand	10s or Better	Two Pair	Three of a Kind	Straight	Flush	Full House	Four of a Kind	Straight Flush	Royal Flush
Payout	1x	2x	3x	4x	5x	6x	20x	50x	800x

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Video Poker Live Bonus Poker Strategy

The Bonus Poker version offers a similar payout structure to Jacks or Better. However, it introduces special bonus rewards for completing certain hands. Specifically, some forms of Four-of-a-Kind come with better rewards. Four Aces will net you a whopping 80x, compared to the usual 25x. Fours of 2s, 3s, and 4s also pay an increased rate of 40x.

On the flipside, the payouts for easier hands such as Flush and Full House are smaller.

This means that Bonus Poker is generally more volatile than the variants we discussed previously. However, it maintains a strong RTP of 99.17% – the second highest in the game.

In terms of the strategy for Bonus Poker, you should mostly follow the same order of importance as Jacks or better. There are just a few exceptions:

Aces become more valuable. Three aces are among the highest priority to hold, ranking only below a completed Royal Flush, Straight Flush, or Four-of-a-kind.
Despite the increased payouts, the priority of 2s, 3s, and 4s remains unchanged.

Check out the complete paytable for Bonus Poker in Video Poker Live by Evolution below.

Bonus Poker Payouts
Hand	Jacks or Better	Two Pair	Three of a Kind	Straight	Flush	Full House	Four of a Kind	Four 2s, 3s, or 4s	Straight Flush	Four Aces	Royal Flush
Payout	1x	2x	3x	4x	5x	8x	25x	40x	50x	80x	800x

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Video Poker Live Double Double Bonus Strategy

If you’re looking for the biggest payouts in Video Poker Live, the Double Double Bonus variant is for you. Most of the paytable is (again) similar to the other versions. However, this option comes with even bigger rewards for Four of a Kind Aces, 2s, 3s, and 4s. It also boosts payouts for all Four-of-a-Kind hands and additional bonuses for special combinations with ‘kickers’.

To be clear, the ‘kicker’ refers to the fifth card in your hand that’s not part of the Four-of-a-Kind. For example, four Aces and a 2 can be described as Four Aces and a 2 Kicker.

The biggest drawback of Double Double Bonus compared to Jacks or Better is that it pays 1x for Two Pair instead of the usual 2x. Interestingly enough, the rest of the paytable is largely identical, including Flush, Straight, and Full House pays.

Double Double Bonus RTP is 98.98%. It’s slightly weaker than the regular Bonus Poker variant, but some thrill-seeking players find the tradeoff worthwhile.

As for the optimal strategy, it’s pretty much identical to Bonus Poker. The one difference is that you should pay attention not to accidentally discard 2, 3, and 4 Kickers.

Double Double Bonus Poker Payouts

Hand

Jacks or Better

Two Pair

Three of a Kind

Straight

Flush

Full House

Straight Flush

Other Four of a Kind

Four 2s, 3s, or 4s

Four 2s, 3s, 4s + A, 2, 3, 4 Kicker/Four Aces

Four Aces + 2, 3, 4 Kicker

Royal Flush

Payout

50x

80x

160x

400x

800x

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Video Poker Live Deuces Wild Strategy

The Deuces Wild variant of Video Poker Live is the “odd one our” among the available options. It’s the only one with a significant difference in rules and payouts, which translates to a significantly different strategy.

The whole gist of Deuces Wild is that the Deuces act as Wilds (imagine that.) This means that 2s can substitute any other type of card to make winning hands. For example, a Pair of Jacks and a 2 would count as Three-of-a-Kind Jacks. As you can imagine, this significantly impacts bost the importance of some cards/hands and that paytable overall.

Deuces are by far the most important individual card. They should never be discarded. If you draw 4 of them, don’t discard anything (except maybe the fifth card, though this will change nothing.)
Always hold Five-of-a-Kind or better
Three Deuces rank just below Five of a Kind or better, but above any other possible hand
Two deuces are more important to hold than four cards of a Straight Flush, but less important than anything above that on the Jacks or Better priority list
A single 2 card is more important to hold than four cards to a Flush, but less important than anything above that on the Jacks or Better priority list
If no 2s are drawn, the priority list is exactly as shown in the Jacks or Better guide above

Deuces Wild is arguably the least volatile version of Video Poker, in the sense that winning hands are the easiest to make. However, payouts are slashed across the board. Also, you will need at least Three of a Kind to win, so Two Pairs and Jacks or Better hands are merely a “stepping stone” towards Full House, Trips, or other hands.

With 98.91% RTP, this variant is a worthwhile option if you want to try something truly different from the rest.

Deuces Wild Payouts

Hand

Three of a Kind

Straight

Flush

Full House

Straight Flush

Four of a Kind

Five of a Kind

Royal Flush with Wilds

Four 2s

Natural Royal Flush

Payout

15x

25x

200x

800x

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Conclusion

All things considered, the fact that effective Video Poker strategies already exist is a great advantage. These games have been studied, experimented with, and optimized by countless gamblers over the years.

To reiterate, simply follow the priority list we listed in our guide to Jacks or Better strategy. Simply hold the listed cards in the shown priority. If you opt for a different variant, refer to out guide and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Sticking to these steps will ensure you get the best possible RTP for each respective set of rules. This, in turn, ensures better long-term results with Video Poker Live.