Video Poker table

Three nines is a made three of a kind; keeping the trips and discarding the 8 and K gives the best expected value, with chances at four of a kind or a full house.

There is no made hand or four-card draw, so I keep the lone ace and draw four. That gives the best chance of a high pair or better, which is likely worth more than the weak three-card spade flush draw.

Holding A-2-3-5 (an inside wheel draw with an ace) gives about 19/47 = 0.40 credits per credit bet: 4 fours complete the straight and 3 aces make a pair of aces. That beats holding the ace alone or 2-3-5-6, which has no high card to pair.

Holding 7-8-9-J gives four tens to complete the straight, plus three jacks that make a pair. That is about 0.40 expected credits per credit bet, slightly better than keeping the jack alone.

Three sixes already pay three of a kind, and holding them while discarding the 3h and Td gives the best chance at a full house or four of a kind.

A high pair of kings already pays and has the highest expected value; holding it beats keeping the ace or chasing the diamond flush draw.

There is no pair and no real draw, so I keep the lone queen as the best single high card. A queen can still pair with a draw card for jacks or better, and Q9 suited is not a standard hold.

A low pair of nines is worth more in expectation than a 4-flush-draw-free hand: with 4c 7c 3c only three clubs, holding the pair of 9s (about 0.82 per credit) beats any draw.

Hold the unsuited K-Q-J, the best of the three high-card holds with no pair, flush or straight draw available; discard the 6 and 2.

Holding the unsuited Ace and Jack (two high cards) should beat the inside straight draw (about 0.40 per credit), a single high card, and the weak three-heart flush draw.

6-5-8-7 is an open-ended straight draw with 8 outs for a 4-credit payout per credit bet, which beats keeping the lone jack; keeping all four connected cards is the optimal hold.

A low pair of 9s (EV about 0.82 per credit) beats the inside straight draw 5-7-8-9, which has only 4 outs and is worth well under 0.5 per credit, so I keep the pair and discard the other three cards.

Holding the four-card heart flush (6h 2h 3h Jh) has an EV of about 1.2 credits per credit bet. Its 9 flush outs pay 6 each and 3 jack outs pay 1 each, against about 0.82 for keeping the low pair of sixes.

A low pair of sixes is worth about 0.82 credits per credit bet, which beats any other holding such as Td alone or the 2-5-6 draw. I hold the pair and discard the other three cards.

There is no made hand, so I keep the suited King and Jack of spades, which has the best expected value among the draws here. It keeps royal and flush chances, and draws three cards for a high pair.

A low pair of sixes is the best hold here: its expected return is about 0.82 per credit, which beats the 4-card inside straight draw (9-6-4-2 has no real straight shape) and any other option.

The hand has no made pair and no flush draw worth chasing. Holding the lone Jack has an expected return of roughly 0.4 credits per credit bet (about a 24% chance of pairing it, plus occasional better hands). The 3-4-6-7 inside straight draw is worth only about 0.34, so the Jack is better.

With no pair, flush draw or straight draw, the best hold is the two unsuited high cards, Qs and Kc. Its expected value beats the low connected cards or any other hold.

A low pair of sevens has a higher expected payout than any of the straight draws, such as 4-6-7 with the 2 or 4-6-7 inside draws, so I keep the pair and discard the other three cards.

Four to a flush (2h 9h 7h Ah) has 9 outs for a 6-credit-per-credit flush plus 3 ace outs for a pair, for about 1.2 EV per credit. That beats holding the lone ace or any other pattern.

Four to a flush (7h, Kh, 3h, Qh) has 9 outs at 6 credits each plus some chance of pairing a K or Q, for about 1.28 EV per credit bet. That beats the unsuited K-Q-J draw at roughly 0.6.

There is no pair or four-card draw, so the best play is to keep the suited ten and jack of hearts. That holding has a higher expected value than a lone jack.

There is no pair, flush draw or straight draw, so I keep the two high cards J and Q, which has a higher expected value than keeping one high card or drawing five.

The 6-7-8-T inside straight has only 4 outs (about 0.34 EV per credit), while holding the lone Queen is worth more (about 0.45), so I keep Qs and discard the rest.

A pair of aces is a paying high pair and has the highest expected value among the hold patterns here, ahead of the A-2-3 suited draw.

Holding the jack and ace (two unsuited high cards) has a higher expected payout than the inside-straight draw A-2-3-5, which is worth about 0.40 per credit. The jack-ace hold is worth about 0.47 per credit, though I estimated both figures rather than computing them exactly.

A low pair of 3s is worth about 0.82 per credit, which beats holding the lone Jack (about 0.47), so keep the pair and discard the other three cards.

Holding the suited A-J-T of hearts, a three-card royal draw, is worth roughly 1.3 credits per credit bet. That beats the inside-straight draw A-K-J-T, which is worth about 0.53.

Three jacks (Jc, Js, Jh) is a made three of a kind; hold the trips and discard the 7c and 8h to draw for four of a kind or a full house.

There is no pair, no four-card draw and no made hand, so I keep the lone king, which gives the best chance of a jacks-or-better pair. This is from standard 9/6 jacks-or-better strategy; I did not compute the exact EV, and the king-with-suited-nine three-card flush draw looks close but not better.

There is no pair, flush draw or straight draw, so the best play is a high-card hold. I recall from the standard 9/6 Jacks or Better strategy that unsuited K-T ranks slightly above a lone king, so I hold Td and Kh.

There is no pair, straight or flush draw worth keeping, so I hold the lone king, the best single high card, and discard the other four.

A low pair of sevens is the best hold: its EV of about 0.82 per credit beats keeping the lone queen or any other draw.

There is no pair, no flush or straight draw of four cards, and no high card. The best partial holds, such as 8-9 or 6-8-9 offsuit, are weak, so I'm discarding all five cards, which I believe has the highest expected value here, though it is close to those partial holds.

Holding the two pair (7s and 6s) and discarding the 8 guarantees at least 2 credits per credit bet, and 4 of 47 draws make a full house. That gives an EV of about 2.60 per credit, which beats any straight-draw holding.

Holding J-Q-K-9 (four to an inside straight with three high cards) has an estimated EV of about 0.53 per credit. That edges out the roughly 0.49 I estimated for holding J-Q-K alone, though both are close estimates rather than exact figures.

No made hand or flush draw. The 5-6-8-9 inside straight draw is worth only about 0.34 per credit, while holding the lone jack for a high pair is worth about 0.47, so I keep only the jack.

A pair of jacks is a made paying hand, and holding just the pair and drawing three cards has the highest expected value. Keeping the ace kicker lowers it.

A high pair of kings is the best hold: it has an expected return of about 0.82 per credit, well above any draw such as the king-jack or 9-jack-king options.

There is no pair, so I keep the suited high cards Js and Ks. Two suited high cards have a higher expected value than any single high card. I did not compute the exact EV and relied on the standard 9/6 Jacks or Better hold rankings.