Video Poker: the poker machine of the Queen of Hearts' Kingdom

About Video Poker

This is the video poker you find in casino halls, set in the machine room of the Diamond Kingdom. The machine is Jacks or Better, the most played game of its kind, on the full-pay "9/6" table: a full house pays 9 per coin and a flush pays 6. You bet 1 to 5 coins of $5 and get five cards from a 52-card deck. Tap the cards you want to keep — they lift up and get a HELD tag — and draw the rest, just once. The final hand pays by the paytable, which stays on screen with the amounts for your bet, and the line for the hand you hold lights up. The smallest win is a pair of jacks, queens, kings or aces; the biggest is the Royal Flush, which pays a 4,000-coin bonus on 5 coins. Not sure what to keep? Ask for a HINT: the Queen of Diamonds holds the cards of the best play, checked against all 32 ways to hold the hand. After a win, you can collect it or DOUBLE UP against the dealer's card. With perfect play, the machine pays back 99.5% of what it takes, on average over many hands. This is a demo-mode game, made purely for entertainment: the amounts are not real money, and all wins and losses are fictional.

In Selminha's words

“Of all the machines in a casino, video poker is the only one where the player really decides something: the same five cards can turn into a win or into nothing, depending on what you hold. I wanted the exact machine players look for — Jacks or Better on the full-pay table, with no made-up rules — and I wanted the Queen of Diamonds on the side of whoever is learning: the HINT does the math that good players carry in their heads. Double up comes from the real machines, for anyone who likes a little thrill after a win.”

How to play Video Poker and what each hand pays

1. Set your bet with − and +, from 1 to 5 coins of $5, and tap DEAL. You start with $1,000 in play money.
2. Tap the cards you want to hold: each one lifts up and gets a HELD tag. Tap again to release it. Then tap DRAW: the cards you did not hold are replaced, just once.
3. The final hand pays by the paytable, always on screen with the amounts for your bet. Jacks or better is the smallest win. PAYTABLE opens the full table, from 1 to 5 coins.
4. Not sure? Tap HINT and the Queen of Diamonds holds the cards of the right play. You can still change them before you draw.
5. After a win, COLLECT adds it to your balance, and DOUBLE risks it against the dealer's card: pick one of four face-down cards. Higher doubles, lower loses, a tie keeps it.
6. CASH OUT ends the night and takes your balance to the TOP 5. If you run out of money, the night is over.

A demo-mode game

Just for fun

Video Poker is a demo-mode game, made purely for entertainment. The amounts are not real money: the dollars are play money, and all wins and losses are fictional. You never bet or win actual money here.

The paytable

Royal Flush — 250 per coin

Ace, king, queen, jack and ten of the same suit. On 5 coins it pays the bonus: 4,000 coins, $20,000.

Straight Flush — 50 per coin

Five cards in sequence of the same suit, like the 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of spades.

Four of a Kind — 25 per coin

Four cards of the same rank.

Full House — 9 per coin

Three of a kind plus a pair in the same hand.

Flush — 6 per coin

Five cards of the same suit, not in sequence.

Straight — 4 per coin

Five cards in sequence, in mixed suits. The ace counts low (A, 2, 3, 4, 5) or high (10, J, Q, K, A).

Three of a Kind — 3 per coin

Three cards of the same rank.

Two Pair — 2 per coin

Two different pairs.

Jacks or Better — 1 per coin

A pair of jacks, queens, kings or aces. A pair of tens or lower does not pay.

Controls on phone and computer

Computer

Tap or click the cards to hold them, and DEAL, DRAW and COLLECT · on the keyboard, 1 to 5 hold the cards · ENTER or SPACE deals, draws and collects · X doubles up · H asks for a HINT · ← → change the bet · T opens the paytable · R cashes out · P or ESC pauses · M turns the sound on and off

Touch

On phones and tablets, the machine follows the way you hold the device and never asks you to rotate it. Upright, the paytable is on top, the cards in the middle and the buttons at the bottom, near your thumb; sideways, the paytable sits next to the cards. On a computer, the machine stands in the middle of the hall, with the Queen of Hearts and the Jack of Diamonds on either side.

HINT and DOUBLE UP

HINT

The Queen of Diamonds holds the cards of the play that pays the most on average, checked against all 32 ways to hold the hand. It costs nothing and teaches you the game.

DOUBLE UP

After a win, the dealer turns one card face up and you pick one of four face-down cards. Higher doubles your win, lower loses it, a tie keeps it. You can double up to 5 times in a row; after the fifth, the win is collected for you.

How much it pays back

With perfect play on every hand and a 5-coin bet, the machine pays back 99.5% of what it takes, on average over many hands.

Your night at the machine

Balance

You start with $1,000 in play money. Each coin is worth $5, and you bet 1 to 5 coins per hand.

CASH OUT

Ends the night: your balance goes to the TOP 5 on the site. If you run out of money, the night ends on its own.

Your night is saved

Closed the game in the middle of a hand? The night is saved on your device, with the cards that were on the screen.