Video Poker table

With no high cards, flush draws or straight-flush draws, the low pair of 3s is the best hold, worth about 0.82 per credit, more than any other option in this hand.

There is no pair, no four-card draw, and no suited or straight draw worth more than a lone high card. Holding only the jack and drawing four is the best play, since a pair of jacks or better pays and the inside-straight draws are weaker.

No pair, straight draw or flush draw is available, so the best play is to keep the lone king (a high card that can pair for a jacks-or-better payout) and draw four new cards.

A low pair of fives (EV about 0.82 per credit) beats keeping the king or any draw, so hold the 5h and 5d and discard the rest.

Q-J-K-T is an open-ended four-card straight. Any 9 or ace makes the straight (8 outs), and a K, Q or J makes a high pair (9 outs), for about 0.87 credits per credit bet, which beats any other hold.

A low pair of fours (about 0.82 credits per credit bet) is worth more than any other hold. Keeping only the queen is worth roughly 0.47, and no straight or flush draw is close enough to compete.

A pair of tens is worth about 0.82 per credit, more than any draw from this hand such as the J-T-9 straight draw or the suited J-T. So I hold the two tens and discard the rest.

There is no made hand, flush draw or open-ended straight draw. Holding the two unsuited high cards, Jd and Tc, has a slightly higher expected value than holding the Jd alone or the low 5-6-7 straight draw.

A high pair of queens is the best hold here, with an expected return of roughly 1.5 credits per credit bet. That beats any draw available from 2h, 9s and 3s.

Holding the pair of aces (Ac, Ad) is the optimal play; a high pair has an expected value of about 1.5 credits per credit bet, well above any other holding in this hand.

A low pair (6s) is worth about 0.82 credits per credit bet, more than any straight or flush draw from this hand, so I hold the pair of sixes and discard the rest.

Holding the four clubs (3c 7c 9c Jc) and discarding the Ts gives about 1.21 credits per credit bet: 9 flush outs pay 6 and 3 jack outs pay 1. Every other hold is worth less.

A pair of aces is a made high pair; the standard optimal play is to hold the pair and discard the rest, which beats keeping the kicker or drawing to a flush.

No high cards, pairs, or strong draws are present. The best draw is a 4-card inside straight (2-3-5-6) with only 4 outs, worth about 0.34 per credit, and discarding all five is worth about 0.36, so I discard everything.

There is no pair and no four-card draw, so the best play is to keep the two unsuited high cards, Ace and Queen, which give more chances to pair a high card than a single high card.

There is no four-card straight or flush draw here, so I keep the pair of 8s (positions 2 and 3) and discard the rest. A low pair has the highest expected value of the available holds.

Three suited diamonds (5-4-2) also carry straight and straight-flush draws with the ace and 3, which is worth more than keeping a lone queen or 8. I chose this from memory of standard 9/6 Jacks or Better strategy rather than computing the exact EV.

A low pair of nines (EV about 0.82 per credit) beats keeping the high cards K and A (about 0.6 per credit), so hold the two nines and discard the rest.

Hold the low pair of sixes (6c, 6d); a low pair has an expected value of about 0.82 per credit, which beats holding the Ace alone or any other option in this hand.

There is no made hand or strong draw. Keeping the two unsuited high cards, Q and A, has a slightly higher expected value than keeping one high card or the weak 3-4-6 inside straight draw.

Holding the pair of jacks (about 1.5 credits per credit bet) beats the inside straight draw K-Q-J-9 and every high-card or suited-card hold.

Hold the pair of tens (Ts, Th) and discard 9h, 3d and Ad; a low pair has a higher expected value than any single-card or straight draw from this hand.

Keep the pair of queens and discard the rest. A high pair has a much higher expected return than the three-card club draw (9c, Jc, Qc).

Holding the pair of kings (Kc, Kd) is the standard optimal play here; it beats keeping the ace alone or the suited Ac-Kc-5c draw, since a high pair has a clearly higher expected payout.

A low pair of eights (EV about 0.82 per credit) beats holding the lone ace or any other option, so keep the pair and discard the other three cards.

No made hand and no strong draw, so I hold the lone king and draw four. A high card has slightly better expected value than the three-card club flush draw or the inside wheel draw. I estimated this from memory of standard strategy tables, not an exact calculation.

Holding the pair of fives (about 0.82 credits per credit bet) beats every other option here, since there is no four-card draw and Q-high or three-card flush holds are worth less.

Holding the pair of kings (Kc, Ks) and discarding the rest is the optimal play for a high pair with no flush or straight draw.

No pair, no four-card draw and no high-card pairing chance beyond the ace. The 3-5-6 and A-3-5 straight shapes and the three-diamond flush draw are weak, so keeping only the ace of diamonds has the best expected value.

Hold the low pair of deuces (2c, 2s) and discard 3d, Tc, 8s; a low pair has far higher expected value than any other hold in this hand.

Four to a flush (Ks 3s 4s 8s) has about 1.2 credits EV per credit bet, from 9 flush outs plus 3 king pairs. That beats holding the low pair of eights at about 0.82.

There is no made hand and no four-card draw. The 8-7-6 straight draw is weak and pays nothing unless it completes, so I keep only the ace, which I estimate has the highest EV since it can pair to jacks or better.

Two pair (6s and 3s) is a made hand paying 2 per credit, and holding all four pair cards gives about 2.55 expected credits per credit bet from the 1-card draw to a full house, beating any pair-only hold.

A low pair of 8s is the best hold here. The other cards (4, 3, 7) offer only weak straight draws, so I keep the pair and draw three.

Holding the pair of fives (about 0.82 credits per credit bet) beats any high-card draw from Q, K and T, which is worth roughly 0.6 or less.

Holding the three suited high clubs (J, K, A) is worth about 1.4 credits per credit bet, well above the roughly 0.6 for the four-card J-Q-K-A inside straight draw. The club royal draw carries a 1-in-1081 shot at 800, plus flush and pair outs.

No made hand, so the best play is holding the three suited low spades (2s 3s 4s), which give straight flush, flush and straight draws. That should have a higher expected value than keeping the lone queen.

Holding the pair of kings (Kh, Kc) is the optimal play; a high pair beats any draw with the 3h, 6d, 4c.

A pair of jacks is a made paying hand and the best hold here; the 6, 3 and ten give no useful draw, so I keep the two jacks and discard the rest.

Keeping the pair of 4s is the best hold here, since a low pair has a higher expected payout than any draw from A-3-4-8 (such as an inside straight draw). The other three cards are discarded.