If you want the best possible odds in video poker, the question is simple: which game has the highest RTP? The answer is full-pay Deuces Wild, which returns 100.76% with perfect strategy — one of the very few casino games that gives a skilled player a genuine long-term edge. But the full picture is more nuanced, because the highest-RTP game is only the best choice if you can actually find it and play it perfectly. This guide ranks the top games and explains how to choose.
The Highest-RTP Games Ranked
Here are the best-returning standard video poker games at their full-pay schedules, played with perfect strategy:
| Game (Full Pay) | RTP | Player Edge? |
|---|---|---|
| Deuces Wild (full pay) | 100.76% | Yes |
| Double Bonus (10/7) | 100.17% | Yes |
| Double Double Bonus (10/6) | 100.07% | Yes |
| Not So Ugly Deuces | 99.73% | No (very close) |
| 9/6 Jacks or Better | 99.54% | No |
| 8/5 Bonus Poker | 99.17% | No |
The three games above 100% all require their exact full-pay paytables and flawless play. The moment a casino shaves a payout or you make strategy errors, the edge disappears.
Why Full-Pay Deuces Wild Tops the List
Full-pay Deuces Wild returns 100.76% because of its generous treatment of four of a kind — a common hand in a wild-card game — combined with frequent wild royals and five of a kind. The four wild deuces make big hands far more common than in non-wild games, and the full-pay schedule pays enough for them to tip the math in the player's favor. Our full-pay Deuces strategy guide covers how to capture that return.
The catch is rarity. True full-pay Deuces (25-15-9-5-3-2-2-1) is hard to find, appearing mostly in select Las Vegas locals casinos. Many machines labeled "Deuces Wild" are short-pay versions returning well under 98%. The four-of-a-kind line is the tell: full pay pays 5; short pay drops it to 4 or lower.
The 100%+ Games and Their Catch
Three games can exceed 100%: full-pay Deuces Wild, 10/7 Double Bonus, and 10/6 Double Double Bonus. All three share two conditions. First, you must find the exact full-pay paytable — reduced versions return less than 100%. Second, you must play perfect strategy, which for these higher-variance games is demanding; mistakes cost more than in Jacks or Better. In addition, all three are high-variance, meaning the edge only materializes over a very large number of hands, and you need a substantial bankroll to survive the swings. The theoretical edge is real but not easy money.
The Best Practical Choice for Most Players
The highest-RTP game on paper is not always the best practical choice. For most players, 9/6 Jacks or Better at 99.54% is the smartest pick: it is widely available, its strategy is the easiest to master, and its variance is low enough to enjoy on a modest bankroll. You give up about 1.2% of theoretical return versus full-pay Deuces, but you gain availability, simplicity, and smoother sessions — and you are far less likely to leak return through strategy errors.
If you have the bankroll and the discipline to learn tougher strategy, the 100%+ games are worth seeking out. If you want a great game you can find and play well today, full-pay Jacks or Better is the answer.
How to Find These Games
The highest-RTP games are only valuable if you can locate them. The key skills are reading a paytable to distinguish full pay from short pay, and knowing which casinos tend to offer the best schedules. Our guide on finding full-pay machines covers where to look and what to check. As a quick rule: always read the paytable, never assume the game name guarantees the return, and compare available machines on RTP before sitting down.
RTP Is Not the Whole Story
It is tempting to simply chase the biggest number, but the highest-RTP game is only the best choice when several other conditions line up. Three factors temper the raw RTP ranking, and ignoring them leads players to choose a theoretically superior game that performs worse for them in practice.
| Game | RTP | Availability | Variance | Strategy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-Pay Deuces Wild | 100.76% | Rare | High | Hard |
| 10/7 Double Bonus | 100.17% | Uncommon | High | Hard |
| 10/6 Double Double Bonus | 100.07% | Uncommon | Very high | Hard |
| 9/6 Jacks or Better | 99.54% | Common | Low | Easy |
The 100%+ games look superior on paper, but each carries hard-to-find paytables, high variance, and demanding strategy. The roughly one-percent RTP advantage they offer can be entirely erased — or reversed — by strategy mistakes, by playing a short-pay version because the true full-pay machine was unavailable, or by busting out during a downswing before the edge materializes. A clear-eyed assessment weighs all four columns, not just the first.
Why the 100%+ Edge Is Hard to Realize
The promise of a positive-expectation game is alluring, but the edge is fragile and small. Consider full-pay Deuces Wild's 0.76% player advantage. To convert that into reliable profit, you would need to play many tens of thousands of hands at the exact full-pay paytable with genuinely perfect strategy, all while weathering a variance high enough to swing your bankroll wildly in the short term.
In reality, several leaks undermine the edge. The true full-pay schedule is rare, so players often settle for a near-pay version that returns under 100%. Deuces Wild strategy is unforgiving, and the average player gives back more than 0.76% through mistakes, which alone turns the edge negative. And the high variance means that even a perfect player can lose over any realistic session. The positive edge is real in the mathematical sense, but it is best understood as making the game extremely cheap entertainment rather than a dependable source of profit. Treating it as a paycheck is a mistake; treating it as the lowest-cost game in the building is accurate.
Matching the Game to the Player
The right "highest RTP" answer genuinely depends on who is asking. A disciplined advantage player with a large bankroll, the patience to hunt for full-pay machines, and the dedication to master tough strategy should pursue full-pay Deuces Wild or 10/7 Double Bonus — for them, the top of the RTP table is the right target.
A recreational player who wants a great game they can find tonight and play well without extensive study is better served by 9/6 Jacks or Better. Giving up about 1.2% of theoretical return buys widespread availability, an easy and forgiving strategy, and low variance that lets a modest bankroll last. For most people, the game they can actually find and play near-perfectly will outperform a higher-RTP game they can rarely find and frequently misplay. The best RTP in theory is not always the best RTP in your pocket.
Beyond Standard Games
A few specialty and progressive setups can briefly push effective returns even higher than the standard full-pay games, though they come with their own caveats. Progressive video poker, where the royal flush jackpot grows until someone hits it, can exceed 100% once the meter climbs high enough — but only at that elevated jackpot level, and you must bet max coins to qualify. These situations attract skilled "advantage players" who track meters and play only when the jackpot makes the game positive. For the typical player, chasing progressives is impractical and the high variance is punishing. The standard full-pay schedules covered above remain the realistic answer to which game has the highest dependable RTP.
The Full Ranking of Top Games
For players who want a more complete picture, here is an extended ranking of high-return video poker games at their full-pay schedules with perfect strategy. Use it as a reference when surveying what a casino offers.
| Game (Full Pay) | RTP |
|---|---|
| Full-Pay Deuces Wild | 100.76% |
| 10/7 Double Bonus | 100.17% |
| 10/6 Double Double Bonus | 100.07% |
| Not So Ugly Deuces | 99.73% |
| 9/6 Jacks or Better | 99.54% |
| 9/6 Double Double Bonus | 98.98% |
| 8/5 Bonus Poker | 99.17% |
| 9/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe | 99.64% |
| 16/10 All American | 99.60% |
Notice that several games cluster near 99.5%–99.7%, just below the rare 100%+ trio. For most players these mid-pack full-pay games — widely available, easier to play correctly, and lower in variance than the top three — represent the practical sweet spot of high return and real-world playability.
Why Availability Often Trumps RTP
The single most important real-world consideration is that you can only play what the casino offers. A game's theoretical RTP is irrelevant if no machine in the building runs that paytable. In practice, full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better and full-pay 8/5 Bonus Poker are the high-return games you are most likely to actually find, while the 100%+ trio require dedicated searching and often travel to specific casinos.
This is why experienced players treat the RTP table as a wish list ranked against availability, not as a strict play order. The best game you can find tonight, played perfectly, will out-earn the highest-RTP game you cannot find or can only play occasionally. A grinder who plays 9/6 Jacks or Better flawlessly every week is in a far better position than one who chases full-pay Deuces, settles for short-pay versions when it is unavailable, and misplays the tough strategy when it is. Consistency of access and execution beats a marginally higher theoretical number you rarely capture.
How to Hunt for High-RTP Machines
If you do want to seek out the best games, a few principles help. First, learn to read paytables fluently so you can distinguish full pay from short pay at a glance — this is non-negotiable, because the same game name spans wildly different returns. Second, understand that the best paytables cluster in certain environments: Las Vegas locals casinos, competitive regional markets, and select online sites tend to offer better schedules than tourist-heavy Strip resorts. Third, be willing to play lower denominations, since full-pay schedules appear more often at quarters than at dollars.
Finally, always compare on return rather than name. When the highest-RTP game is unavailable, the right move is to compare the full-pay versions of every game on offer and choose the best available return, which may be a different family than you intended to play. A full-pay version of one game routinely beats a short-pay version of a nominally "better" game. Our guide on finding full-pay machines covers the hunt in depth.
The Bankroll Reality of High-RTP Games
An overlooked aspect of chasing the highest-RTP games is that the very games topping the list are also among the most volatile, which has real bankroll implications. Full-pay Deuces Wild, 10/7 Double Bonus, and 10/6 Double Double Bonus all earn their high returns partly by concentrating value in rare, large hands — four deuces, four Aces, premium quads. That concentration means long stretches below average between the big payouts.
The consequence is that to actually realize a 100%+ return, you need both a large bankroll and a long time horizon. A player who brings too little money to one of these high-variance games may bust out during an ordinary downswing, never reaching the volume of hands required for the edge to express itself. In that sense, the highest-RTP game can produce worse real-world results for an underfunded player than a lower-RTP, lower-variance game like 9/6 Jacks or Better would have. The headline number assumes you survive long enough to collect it. Matching your bankroll to the game's variance, as covered in our bankroll management guide, is what turns a theoretical edge into a realized one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the single highest-RTP video poker game?
Full-pay Deuces Wild at 100.76% with perfect strategy. It is the highest standard video poker return and gives the player a small theoretical edge.
Can I really beat the casino with these games?
In theory, over the very long run with perfect play on a true 100%+ paytable, yes — but the edge is tiny, variance is high, and the games are hard to find. They are best viewed as the lowest-cost entertainment, not a reliable income.
Is the highest-RTP game always the best to play?
Not necessarily. Availability, strategy difficulty, and variance matter. For many players, 9/6 Jacks or Better is the better real-world choice despite a slightly lower RTP.
Bottom Line
Full-pay Deuces Wild has the highest RTP at 100.76%, followed by 10/7 Double Bonus and 10/6 Double Double Bonus — all three giving a perfect player a theoretical edge. But the best practical game for most people is 9/6 Jacks or Better, which is easier to find, simpler to master, and lower in variance. Whichever you choose, read the paytable and play perfect strategy to capture the return.