What does the video poker calculator do?

It takes the 5 cards you were dealt and computes the exact expected value (EV) for each of the 32 possible hold combinations by enumerating every draw outcome from the remaining 47-card deck. It then recommends the mathematically optimal play.

Does optimal strategy change with multi-hand (3/5/10/50/100)?

No. The optimal hold decision is identical for any number of hands because each hand draws independently from the same starting cards. What changes is variance: 100-play has roughly 1/10 the variance of single-hand for the same total wager, meaning steadier short-term results but a larger bankroll requirement (each round costs N times a single bet).

Which game variants are supported?

Calculator v1 supports Jacks or Better 9/6 (the most common variant). Deuces Wild, Bonus Poker, and Double Double Bonus are on the roadmap. The math engine is variant-agnostic — adding a new variant means defining its pay table and any wild card rules.

Why is the calculator free?

It runs entirely in your browser using static HTML and JavaScript. No server, no signup, no account, no real money. It is built as a learning tool to show why optimal play matters and where the EV comes from.

Video Poker Calculator

FREE EV CALCULATOR · OPTIMAL HOLD ADVISOR · MULTI-HAND MODE

Strategy Guide Odds & Probability Play Jacks or Better

Calculator

Enter your 5-card hand. The calculator evaluates all 32 hold combinations against every possible 47-card draw and recommends the optimal play with exact EV.

Game Variant

Hands Mode

Coins per Hand

Your 5 cards

Jacks or Better 9/6 Pay Table

Bet 5 coins (max bet) to qualify for the boosted Royal Flush jackpot. EVs shown below are per coin wagered.

Royal Flush (max bet bonus)

800 / coin

Straight Flush

Four of a Kind

Full House

Flush

Straight

Three of a Kind

Two Pair

Jacks or Better

How It Works

For each of the 32 possible hold combinations (2⁵ hold/discard choices for 5 cards), the calculator enumerates every draw outcome from the remaining 47-card deck. Each final 5-card hand is evaluated against the pay table, and the average payout becomes the EV for that hold combination.

The combinatorial complexity is small (under 1.5 million evaluations for a fully discarded hand), so the math runs in milliseconds in your browser. No server, no simulation — this is exact EV, the same method used by professional video poker software.

Multi-Hand Mode

When you select 3/5/10/50/100 hands, the optimal hold decision does not change — the math is the same because each hand draws independently from the same starting cards. What changes is:

Variance — 100-play has roughly 1/10 the variance of single-hand for the same total wager. Hits are smoother, swings are smaller.
Bankroll requirement — each round costs N × coin-bet. A 5-coin 100-play round costs 500 coins, so you need 5× the bankroll versus single hand.
Royal Flush opportunity — every hand is an independent shot at the Royal. Over a session, 100-play sees 100× the chances per round.

The result panel above shows the per-hand EV, the total N-hand EV, and the standard deviation across N hands so you can see this effect directly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the calculator accurate?

Yes. The engine enumerates every possible draw and evaluates the resulting hand against the pay table. This is exact EV, not Monte Carlo simulation. The long-run RTP for Jacks or Better 9/6 with optimal play is 99.54%, which this calculator reproduces.

Does optimal strategy change with 100 hands?

No. The optimal hold decision is the same across single-hand and multi-hand modes because each hand draws independently. Variance and bankroll requirements do change — see "Multi-Hand Mode" above.

Why don't I see Deuces Wild here?

Calculator v1 supports Jacks or Better 9/6 only. Deuces Wild, Bonus Poker, Double Double Bonus, and other variants are on the roadmap. The math engine is already variant-agnostic — adding a new variant means defining its pay table and any wild card rules.

Is the calculator free?

Yes. It runs entirely in your browser using static HTML and JavaScript. No signup, no account, no real money. It is built as a learning tool to show why optimal play matters.