Video Poker Pay Tables
Every video poker game names its pay table on screen before you play a hand, and on Jacks or Better that table is usually shortened to a ratio like "9/6" — the two numbers are the full house and flush payouts, in that order, and nothing else on the card is named by them.
Jacks or Better's full ranking lists every hand on that card; this page is about what the ratio itself is worth and how fast you can read it.
Jacks or Better, Every Verified Schedule
The gap from best to worst is 4.54 points of return on every hand, and it comes entirely from the two rows the ratio names. Every other line on the card — 1 for a pair of jacks, 2 for two pair, 3 for three of a kind, 4 for a straight, 25 for four of a kind, 50 for a straight flush, 800 for a royal — is fixed across all five of these.
Two Numbers, Two Seconds
On a Jacks or Better machine, ignore everything except the full house and flush lines — they are the only rows that move between schedules, so they are the whole answer. A card reading 9 and 6 is the best in wide circulation; 8 and 5 is common and costs a real amount; 6 and 5 is the bottom of what is normally offered.
Even the worst of these — 6/5 at 95% — is a respectable return by any casino game's standard. The comparison worth making is between video poker pay tables, not between video poker and everything else in the room.
Other Variants Use Their Own Notation
The X/Y ratio is a Jacks or Better convention. Bonus Poker, Double Bonus and Double Double Bonus vary mainly on their four-of-a-kind lines rather than the full house and flush, so a ratio built around those two rows would not describe what actually changes between their schedules. Deuces Wild and Bonus Deuces Wild are usually labelled by name — "Full Pay" or "NSU" — rather than a ratio at all.
Whatever the variant, the rule is the same: read the pay table on the screen you are actually playing, not a number quoted for a different game or a different machine.
Video Poker Pay Tables FAQs
The full house and flush payouts, in that order — 9 credits and 6 credits per credit bet on a Jacks or Better table. Every other line on the card stays the same across the common schedules.
Because the game's name describes the hand ranking, not the exact payout on every line. Two cabinets both labelled Jacks or Better can run different pay tables, and the only way to tell is to read the screen.
At 95%, it is the weakest Jacks or Better schedule on this page, but it still returns more than most slot machines. It is worth playing if it is genuinely the best option in the room — just not if a better-paying table is sitting next to it.
No. Their pay tables vary mainly on the four-of-a-kind line rather than the full house and flush, so the X/Y shorthand does not apply the same way. The Double Bonus page covers what to look at instead.