With an understanding of the basic strategy for playing video poker you will be able to determine which cards to hold and which cards to replace when dealt your five card hand. In video poker you are not actually playing against any opponents, so the ranking of hands and the art and practice of bluffing is not of interest.

Strategies

If you are dealt a hand in which you need only one card to make a royal flush, flush, straight, or straight flush, then the card to replace is the one that does not fit into the needed sequence of cards.
If you are dealt a hand that contains one pair, then you need to replace the other three cards that do not make up the pair.
If you are dealt a hand that contains two pairs, then the card to replace is the one that is not contained in either pair.
If you are dealt three cards of the same kind, then replace the two cards that are not one of the three.
If you are dealt four of the same kind, then replace the remaining card that is not one of the four.
If you are dealt a hand that contains a flush, straight flush, royal flush, full house, straight, or straight flush, then keep all of your cards and do not discard any of them.
If you are dealt a hand that contains a pair but also contains four cards that could be used to make up a royal flush, flush, straight, or straight flush but is lacking one card, then keep the pair and replace the other three cards.
If you are dealt a hand that contains 5 different cards, one of the cards being a Jack or better, then keep the high card and replace all of the others.
As regards any other hand, replace all five of the cards.

Poker Odds

In this section you will learn what the probability is of winning with various poker hands. Using this information will make playing poker much more fun and will increase your chances of winning:

If you have no cards and then draw five cards, the probability of your hand ending up as a pair is 13%.

Two pairs – 3.17%

Three of the same kind – 2.11%

A straight – 0.30%

A flush – 0.20%

A full house – 0.14%

Four of a kind – 0.024%

A straight flush – 0.0015%

A royal straight flush – 0.00015%

If you have one card which is a Jack or better, and you then draw four cards, the probability of your hand ending up as a pair is 23.24%.

Two pairs – 5.70%

Three of the same kind – 2.11%

A straight – 0.15% to 0.31%

A flush – 0.20%

A full house – 0.14%

Four of a kind – 0.02%

A straight flush – 0.001% to 0.0004%

A royal straight flush – 0.0004%

If you have a pair, and you then draw three cards, the probability of your hand ending up as two pairs is 18.21%

Three of the same kind – 12.21%

A full house – 1.18%

Four of a kind – 0.28%

If you have a pair and a kicker, and you then draw two cards, the probability of your hand ending up as two pairs is 18.04%

Three of the same kind – 7.77%

A full house – 0.83%

Four of a kind – 0.09%

If you have two pairs, and you then draw one card, the probability of your hand ending up with a full house is 8.51%
If you have three of a kind, and you then draw two cards, the probability of your hand ending up as a full house is 6.66%

Four of a kind – 4.26%

If you have three of a kind plus a kicker, and you then draw one card, the probability of your hand ending up as a full house is 6.38%

Four of a kind – 2.13%

If you have an open-ended straight, and you then draw one card, the probability of your hand ending up as a straight is 17.02%.

A pair – 6.38%

If you have an inside straight or an open-one-end straight, and you then draw one card, the probability of your hand ending up as a straight is 8.51%.
If you have an open-end straight flush, and you then draw one card, the probability of your hand ending up as a straight flush is 4.26%.
If you have an inside straight flush or an open-one-end straight flush, and you then draw one card, the probability of your hand ending up as a straight flush is 2.13%.
If you have a four-flush, and you then draw one card, the probability of your hand ending up as a flush is 19.15%.

A pair – 6.38%

If you have a three-flush, and you then draw two cards, the probability of your hand ending up as a flush is 4.16%.

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