When you are choosing an online casino game to play, one of the most important things to consider is the RTP (Return to Player) percentage. This factor can show you what the potential return of the game can be in the long run. The higher the RTP is, the better possible return you can expect, indicating that some casino options may offer a better long-term profit than others.
The average RTP of casino games typically ranges according to the variation of the game. Usually, slots tend to have the lowest RTPs among all casino games while table games like blackjack and poker can reach higher RTP levels, especially if players use optimal strategies. If you are exploring casino blogs to choose which casino game to play, you can often see casino experts suggesting video poker due to its high RTP.
Even though video poker cannot compare in popularity with slots, it is a casino game that can also offer plenty of fun and great potential returns. In fact, some video poker variations can offer a theoretical return that may reach or even surpass 100%. If you are wondering which video poker games can offer such high RTP and whether you can find them online, we suggest you continue reading.
Video Poker Variations with Positive Expected Value
In the 1980s and 90s, video poker was one of the most rewarding casino games, with professional players enjoying very profitable gaming sessions. One of the reasons why video poker used to be such a rewarding game was the variety of available games and the denominations of the coins.
The full-pay version of Deuces Wild that has 100.76% RTP had a coin size of a dollar, allowing players to wager as much as $5 per single hand. Let us assume that you are still able to find a full-pay Deuces Wild version online, allowing you to bet up to $/£5 per single hand by making a five-coin bet. It is estimated that you can theoretically win $/£38 per hour and that does not even include any of the VIP benefits that players used to enjoy back then.
Unfortunately, nowadays video poker variants that offer a positive expected value (EV) are not that easy to come by. That said, there are various software providers that have developed some full-pay video poker variants that you can play online. To be able to recognise such variants, however, you need to learn the full-pay versions of different video poker games. Combine that with the right optimal strategy and you can have the chance to play with RTP that surpasses 100%.
Which Video Poker Variations Can Offer Over 100% RTP?
Virtual casinos, just like their land-based counterparts, are making sure that they can always enjoy a profit, which is the reason why casinos try to always gain an edge over the players. Almost every casino game has a house edge that will guarantee the casino a profit in the long run. That is why most games are deemed unbeatable as players cannot overcome the house’s advantage, no matter what strategy they are using.
While the house edge thing is true for most casino games, there are a few video poker variations that tilt the balance on the players’ side. One thing to remember, however, is that the highest possible RTP in the video poker games we will discuss is possible only when players are using perfect strategy. The few video poker options with over 100% RTP include:
- Full-pay Deuces Wild – 100.76% RTP
- 10/7 Double Bonus – 100.17% RTP
- 10/6 Double Double Bonus – 100.07% RTP
If you are wondering what full-pay video poker means, we will put it that way. The full-pay version of a specific video poker game offers the best possible payout for certain winning hands. The highest possible payouts will also ensure the RTPs listed above, provided players are using the perfect strategy. However, even if there is a small tweak in the payout of one winning hand, that can seriously affect the RTP of the game, ultimately bringing the potential long-term return down.
One thing to keep in mind is that while full-pay video poker versions may sound great, they are very difficult to find online. That said, there are some virtual casinos that may feature full-pay Deuces Wild, so keep an eye for the best possible payouts in this video poker variation.
| Full-Pay Deuces Wild Paytable | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hand | 1 coin | 2 coins | 3 coins | 4 coins | 5 coins |
| Natural Royal Flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Four Deuces | 200 | 400 | 600 | 800 | 1000 |
| Wild Royal Flush | 25 | 50 | 75 | 100 | 125 |
| Five of a Kind | 15 | 30 | 45 | 60 | 75 |
| Straight Flush | 9 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 45 |
| Four of a Kind | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Full House | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Flush | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Straight | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Three of a Kind | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
How Paytables Affect RTP in Video Poker Games
As mentioned earlier, there are different variations of video poker, with payouts on winning hands differing between various versions of the game. While each variant of video poker can have a full-pay version, offering the best possible payouts on winning hands, in most cases, the payoff on certain hands is adjusted. Even if the difference between a full-pay version and an adjusted paytable variant may seem small, in the scheme of things, even a small change in payouts can seriously affect the long-term potential return of a game.
Let us take for example a full-pay variant of Jacks or Better, also known as 9/6 Jacks or Better. In that case, the payout for Full House is 9 to 1 and Flush pays 6 to 1. Many of the versions you can find online will have the Flush payout adjusted to 5 to 1. Even though the payout for Full House does not change, the seemingly small one-coin change will lower the RTP from 99.54% on the full-pay version to 98.45% on the 9/5 variant. Moreover, there are also 8/5 versions of Jacks or Better that also decrease the payout on Full House. This version will further lower the RTP to 97.3%.
As you can see, finding a video poker version with the best possible payout is crucial for your gaming sessions as it will allow you to enjoy the best possible potential return in the long run. Even if you cannot find a full-pay video poker game online, make sure to opt for the next best-paying version.
Low Variance in Video Poker Contributing to Fruitful Outcomes
Even if you come across a video poker variation with extremely high RTP, this would mean nothing if the game has high volatility. Slots with high RTP are evidence of that as even those with 98% RTP cannot guarantee generous short-term potential returns due to their high variance.
The case with video poker is different as this is a casino game with fairly low volatility. Combining high RTP with low volatility means that a large percentage of your hands will most probably turn out to be winning hands. For instance, if you play Jacks or Better, with the proviso that you use the right strategy, you will win 45.46% of the time. Meanwhile, a perfect strategy play on Bonus Poker will bring you a winning hand in 45.51% of the time.
Playing a less volatile casino game will also allow you to play longer as you will go through your bankroll much slower. Meanwhile, video poker gives you pretty good chances to land a win, which can be especially bountiful if you land Royal Flush. Provided you have bet five coins, the winning hand of Royal Flush will grant a payout of 4,000 coins.
Can You Beat Online Casinos by Playing Video Poker?
Even though video poker games with over 100% RTP sound great, they are rarely available at online casinos. It is possible to come across several video poker machines with positive EV if you visit a few Las Vegas land-based casinos. That said, you cannot expect to make a huge profit by simply playing video poker but you certainly can enjoy some payouts while having fun playing the game.
To be able to maximise your winning chances, you must apply the correct video poker strategy. That means that you must make the optimal move on every type of hand that you are dealt the first time you start a new video poker game. However, as there are different video poker variations, the optimal decision on each one of them could also be different. That is why players must apply the correct strategy corresponding to the specific video poker variation they play.
While currently there are no online video poker variants that will offer over 100% RTP, there are several options that will allow you to at least come as close as possible to 100%. Casinos that run on the software platform of Microgaming may offer a video poker variant named All Aces with 99.92% RTP. Meanwhile, Real Time Gaming casinos often offer Aces and Eights, which is a video poker variation with 99.78% RTP. Even if you are not playing on a casino website that offers said versions, you can find plenty of virtual casinos that offer 9/6 Jacks or Better. Provided you use the right strategy, you will play with 99.54% RTP.
Conclusion
Video poker is one of the casino games that offer players some of the best winning chances, provided they know the right strategy to use. As you may know, RTP is one of the main things players are considering when choosing the games they would play. While in most cases, the casino has an edge over the players, with video poker, you may find variants with over 100% RTP.
Considering video poker can offer a rather high RTP and low variance, players have quite a few chances for fruitful gaming sessions playing video poker. Unfortunately, the video poker options with RTP higher than 100% can be found only at several Las Vegas brick-and-mortar casinos. That said, there are a few online video poker games that can offer over 99% RTP.
The most common full-pay video poker version that you can find online is 9/6 Jacks or Better. If you make sure that the game is offering the proper payouts for Full House and Flush and you use the correct strategy, you can play with 99.54% RTP, which is not exactly 100% but still gets pretty close to giving the house almost no edge. If you are planning to use strategy when playing video poker, make sure you are using the correct one. To make things easier, you can print out a strategy card and simply refer to it when playing video poker online. That will allow you to make the optimal decision on every hand and improve your winning chances in the long run.
