Video Poker Live is an online casino game that blends the live casino experience with video poker. It’s the first-ever attempt to make such a game and boasts a massive RTP rate of 99.54% with a minimum bet of $0.5 and a $5,000 maximum bet. It’s available on both desktop and mobile as one of Evolution’s flagship releases in 2023.
Live Video Poker is one of several innovative ideas announced by Evolution in 2023. It’s an entirely unique project that can’t currently be experienced anywhere else. In this review, we’ll take a look at how Video Poker live works, whether it’s worth playing, and where you can find it right now.
| Game Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Game name | Video Poker Live |
| Game provider | Evolution |
| Game type | Specialty Games |
| Streaming from | Latvia |
| RTP | 99.54% |
| Bet range | €0.5 - €5,000 |
| Max win | 800:1 |
| Side bets | No |
| Supported platforms |
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| Supported OS |
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| Languages |
Albanian
Chinese
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
+19
All supported languages
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Although live games with real dealers are slowly becoming the most popular way to play classic casino games online, games powered by RNG still have a place in the market. Slots are the first that probably pop into your mind, but Video Poker has also been a staple of casinos for decades. With one of its 2023 releases, Evolution is attempting to bring Video Poker to live audiences worldwide. The idea is simple – to combine the authentic experience and community of live gambling with the simplicity and excitement of Video Poker.
In that regard, the new Video Poker Live is somewhat similar to the idea of live slots. Although this new format of gaming initially struggled to find footing in the crowded live dealer space, Evo is finally making headway with major releases like Extra Chilli Epic Spins.
Video poker is the next to receive a similar treatment. However, we should point out a few things, even if they seem obvious to some. First of all, this isn’t really poker in the classic sense. It’s not casino poker and it doesn’t really use cards. Instead, think of it as a typical video poker machine, only the results are shared by a worldwide audience. If that sounds interesting to you, keep on reading this review.
Video Poker is not a complicated game, and it’s easy to get into the groove of things. We’ll walk you through the basic steps to explain how it all fits together.
Evolution’s Live Video Poker simulates a virtual poker machine. That means a computer determines all results, and there are no actual cards. The only exceptions are the 5 cards the dealer draws – we’ll explain that in a minute. The simulation includes a single standard deck of 52 cards, without Jokers.
The goal is to arrange the strongest possible 5-card poker hand. If your hand is strong enough, you’ll receive a payout based on the paytable you chose to use. You can choose between 5 options when it comes to determining payouts – check the Payouts section of this review for more info.
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 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:
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.
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.
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.
Every round starts with a 15-second betting period. To play in the current round, you have to choose the number of hands you wish to bet on, the size of the bet per hand, and the paytable you wish to use.
You can bet on up to 100 hands per round. Each one is treated as a separate game, so to speak. That means that every hand will draw from its own simulated deck.
Choose between 5 paytables to determine the potential rewards. Your options include:
Our recommendation is to always play Jacks or Better because it offers the highest average RTP.
Once you’ve placed your bets, the dealer will deal 5 real cards on the table in front of them. These cards are only used for a single hand (out of a possible 100.) If you’re only wagering on one hand, these are the cards you will use. Otherwise, these cards are only relevant for one of your hands. The rest are completely virtual.
You now have the option to swap cards. If you don’t want to swap cards, click on them. Each card you choose not to swap will have a big HOLD sign below it. The rest are replaced from a virtual deck that contains all of the cards that hand did not draw initially.
If you do not select which cards you want (or don’t want) to hold in a particular hand, the game will do so automatically. It will even follow the optimal strategy, so beginners may just want to leave them untouched.
As described above, any cards you chose not to hold are immediately replaced. These new cards are then used to calculate results.
If you have a winning combination, you will receive a payout based on the paytable you choose. Generally, you will need a Pair of Jacks or better to receive a prize, but that’s not the case with all possible paytables.
The size of your payout is determined by the strength of your card, as per the usual poker rules. If you need help understanding poker hands and how they work, check out this article.

As we already mentioned, Video Poker Live allows you to choose between different payables. You have five options, and each has its own characteristics. Some are more volatile, others simply rebalance the payout structure to be more rewarding for some hands than others.
However, these paytables are not equal. Some are better than others, and differences can be quite striking. That’s why we recommend that you always play the Jacks or Better paytable. It’s relatively non-volatile and has the best RTP by far.
Check out the table below to compare all paytables in Video Poker Live.
| Video Poker Live Paytables | |||||
| Hand | Jacks or Better | Tens or Better | Deuces Wild | Bonus Poker | Double Double Bonus |
| Royal Flush | 800 | 800 | 800 | 800 | 800 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 50 | 200 | 50 | 50 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 20 | 4 | 25-80 | 50-400 |
| Full House | 9 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 9 |
| Flush | 6 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| Straight | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Tens or Better | N/A | 1 | |||
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 |
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:
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 |
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 | 1x | 1x | 3x | 4x | 6x | 9x | 50x | 50x | 80x | 160x | 400x | 800x |
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 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 | 1x | 2x | 3x | 4x | 9x | 4x | 15x | 25x | 200x | 800x |
If you don’t know which paytable to use, simply check out the RTP value for each.
This makes Jacks or Better not only the best variant of Video Poker Live, but also a very strong live casino game overall. It has a higher RTP than most live blackjack tables, which is really impressive.
Make sure to choose the game that suits your taste and budget. For more extensive guides on live casino games, check out this page.
It’s important to note that no two players have the same experience of Video Poker live. Everyone sees a different outcome on their screens depending on the choices they make. For example, if you choose to hold 2 cards but another player holds 4, you will draw 3 cards while they only draw two. This even applies to the initial hand that’s made using real cards on a real table. Any swapped cards are drawn as virtual cards alone. The dealer’s role is mostly to engage the audience, often through the live chat feature available in-game.
Beyond that, there aren’t may other features to report on. The UI is certainly interesting – especially if you choose to play tens or dozens of hands in a single round. Most of the gameplay in that case is automated, and the results are collected and color-coded so its easy to keep up with so many hands.