The advantage of playing video poker is that a player can determine the "Expected Return" (ER) of a machine by looking at the pay table on the front of the machine. There are 2,598,960 hands that can be produced with a 52-card deck. The RNG (random number generator) in a video poker machines is set to simulate the probabilities of drawing any one of the combinations of hands. Because this is a set probability the casino gets its edge by adjusting the pay table of the machines. By knowing how to read a pay table you can make sure you are playing the machine with the best return. I have seen two identical looking machines next to each other with different pay tables.

Let's take a look at standard Jacks or Better and Bonus Poker machines. The pay table is shown below. The Royal Flush pays 250 per coin with a bonus 4,000 coin pay out when you play the maximum five coins. This is shown as 250/4000. The bonus for the royal flush is figured in to the overall return. The key to the Jacks or Better game is the pay out for the Full House (9) and the Flush (6). A machine with this pay table is referred to as a 9/6 machine and has an ER of 99.5 percent. The full pay Bonus Poker game pays eight for the Full House and five for the Flush. This is because of the bonus pay out of 80coins for the four-of-a-kind Aces and 40 coins for the twos threes and fours. The casinos lower the pay out by reducing the coins paid for the full house and the flush. A quick rule of thumb is that the pay out will be reduced by approximately 1.1% for each coin taken away from either of these hands.

Jacks or Better Machine 9/6 8/5 6/5 Royal Flush 250/4000 250 250 Straight Flush 50 50 50 4 of-a -kind 25 25 25 Full House 9 8 6 Flush 6 5 5 Straight 4 4 4 3 of-a-kind 3 3 3 2 Pairs 2 2 2 Jacks 1 1 1 250/4000 applies to all games Return 99.5 97.3 95

Bonus Poker Machine 8/5 7/5 6/5 Royal Flush 250/4000 250 250 Straight Flush 50 50 50 4 - Aces 80 80 80 4 (2 3 4) 40 40 40 4 (5-K's) 25 25 25 Full House 8 7 6 Flush 5 5 5 Straight 4 4 4 3 of-a-kind 3 3 3 2 Pairs 2 2 2 Jacks 1 1 1 Return 99.3 98 96.8

Full pay Deuces Wild offers a 100.7 return. The key to the return is the five coins paid for the four-of-a-kind. By reducing the four-of-a kind pay out to four coins they reduce the over all return by whopping 6.4%. This is quite a reduction in the overall return.

Double Bonus Poker is another game that offers a return of over 100% with proper play on a full pay machine. The game pays double for the four-of-a-kinds over the standard Bonus Poker game and gives you an extra coin for the straight . To make up for this additional bonus the two pair pay out is reduced to one coin. The key to adjusting the overall return still lies in the pay out for the Full House and Flush.

Although video poker machines may look alike they are quite different. It is up to you to read the pay table before you sit down and make sure you are choosing the machine that will offer the best return. Any Video Poker machine can be analyzed to determine the Expected Return.