If you walk through any casino, past the flashing modern video slots, you will inevitably find rows of old, blocky Video Poker machines.

Because you can see the cards and know a standard 52-card deck is being used, you can mathematically calculate the exact probability of every draw.

Finding the Full Pay Machines

The most common and foundational variation is "Jacks or Better," where the lowest paying winning hand is exactly a pair of Jacks.

Smart players exclusively hunt for a specific paytable known in the industry as "9/6 Jacks or Better."

• Progressive Video Poker machines often feature weaker base paytables to compensate
• Online casinos usually offer the absolute best, highly favorable Video Poker paytables
• Never play a machine where a Flush pays only 5 coins if better options exist

Chasing the Royal Flush Premium

However, the payout for the absolute rarest hand, the Royal Flush, is heavily, disproportionately weighted toward the massive 5-coin maximum bet.

But if you bet the maximum 5 coins, the Royal Flush payout jumps exponentially to an incredible 4,000 coins (800 to 1).

Using Math to Make the Right Hold

Once you find a 9/6 machine and bet max coins, the final step is flawlessly executing the mathematical basic strategy for every single hand.

You can legally print a strategy card from the internet and hold it right in front of the machine while you play in the casino.

By finding the correct paytable, betting the absolute maximum, and playing flawlessly like a robot, you can nearly eliminate the house edge.