Video Poker in New Zealand: How the Returns Actually Work

Video poker rewards New Zealand players who learn the paytable: full-pay Jacks or Better returns about 99.5% with perfect play, and some Deuces Wild tables exceed 100%. This guide covers video poker rules and hand rankings, how to read a paytable, optimal strategy for the main variants and where the full-pay games are found online. For the maths of the other card games see blackjack and baccarat; for RNG fairness see how casino algorithms work.

Video poker sits between a pokie and a card game. You are dealt five cards, choose which to keep, and draw replacements. The final hand is paid according to a fixed table.

It has a reputation as one of the better-value casino games, and under specific conditions that reputation is deserved. Those conditions are narrow, they are rarely met online, and almost no guide states them.

This page explains what determines the return, and what the widely quoted figures assume. It does not list operators.

The paytable is the game

The most common claim about video poker is that Jacks or Better returns 99.54%. That figure is real, and it applies to one specific version of the game.

This is the single most important thing to understand about the format. A game labelled “Jacks or Better” in a casino lobby can return anywhere from about 95% to 99.54%, and nothing in the title distinguishes them. The difference sits in two rows of the paytable.

Online play is where this matters most. Land-based venues traditionally offered a range of paytables at different denominations, and finding full pay was a known part of the game. Online lobbies typically ship whichever paytable the operator has licensed, with no alternative available and no indication of which version it is.

Check before betting. Open the paytable inside the game and read the full house and flush rows at one coin.

The coin decision

The second condition attached to that 99.54% figure is maximum-coin play, and the reason is a single irregularity in the payout structure.

The practical rule follows directly: if five coins at your chosen denomination is more than you want to stake, move down a denomination rather than reducing the coin count. Five coins at NZ$0.10 and one coin at NZ$0.50 cost the same per hand, but only the first pays the royal flush at 800× per coin.

What a high return does not mean

The third condition is optimal strategy on every hand. But even with all three met, the format does not behave the way a 99.54% figure suggests.

This matters because “high RTP, low volatility” is the standard framing for video poker, and the second half of it is wrong. The return is high precisely because a large share of it is parked in a hand that arrives roughly once in 40,000 deals. Between royals, the game returns less than the published figure — that is what the average is averaging over.

Strategy, honestly described

Video poker involves genuine decisions. Which cards you hold changes the expected value of the hand, and unlike roulette or baccarat, the outcome is not independent of what you do.

Two things follow, and they pull in opposite directions.

Correct play meaningfully improves the return. The difference between optimal decisions and casual ones can be several percentage points. Published strategy charts, most notably those maintained by the Wizard of Odds, list every reasonable way to play a hand in priority order.

Correct play cannot make the return positive on any paytable you will find online. Optimal strategy on a full-pay 9/6 table still leaves a 0.46% house edge. Strategy reduces a loss; it does not create a profit.

Some widely repeated shortcuts are also unreliable. “Never chase inside straights” is a reasonable default that is wrong in specific cases — a four-card inside straight flush, for example, should be held over a low pair. Simplified rules cost return precisely where the decisions are hardest.

Our rules of blackjack page covers the other main game where decisions affect the outcome.

Bonuses and video poker

Video poker has one of the lowest house edges available, which is exactly why bonus terms treat it badly.

Wagering contributions for video poker are commonly reduced to 10–20%, or the game is excluded from bonus play entirely. At 10% weighting, a 30x wagering requirement becomes an effective 300x in turnover. Playing an excluded game while a bonus is active can void it outright.

If video poker is what you want to play, declining the bonus is usually the better arrangement. Our casino bonuses page explains wagering mechanics in detail, and note that under the Online Casino Gambling Regulations 2026 a bonus from a licensed New Zealand operator cannot exceed NZ$100, or 200% of the deposit or bet, whichever is lower.

Common variants

Multi-hand deserves a specific caution. Playing 10 hands at five coins each is 50 coins per deal. The return percentage is unchanged, but the amount at risk per deal, and the rate at which a bankroll moves, rise proportionally.

Where New Zealand’s rules sit

Operators serving New Zealand before 1 May 2026 may continue until 1 December 2026. From that date, only operators that have applied for a licence may continue. Licences are expected from early 2027, when the Department of Internal Affairs will publish a public register of licensed operators.

Licensed operators will be required to offer limits on deposits, spending and play duration; provide self-exclusion effective within 24 hours; monitor for signs of problem gambling; verify age with a minimum of 18; and prohibit credit card and buy-now-pay-later deposits. Autoplay is prohibited.

Session limits are worth noting for this game in particular. Video poker is played quickly — several hundred hands an hour is normal — and a session can extend a long way without a natural stopping point. Our responsible gaming page covers the tools available, and our New Zealand gambling laws guide sets out the timeline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Jacks or Better really return 99.54%?

Only on a full-pay 9/6 paytable, with optimal strategy, at maximum coins. An 8/5 version of the same game returns about 97.30%, and a 6/5 version about 95%. The game’s name is identical in all cases.

What does “9/6” mean?

The payouts for a full house and a flush, per coin bet. A 9/6 table pays 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush. Those two rows are where nearly all of the difference between versions sits.

Should I always bet maximum coins?

On a standard paytable, yes. The royal flush pays 800× per coin at five coins against 250× at fewer, and that bonus is worth roughly two percentage points of return. If five coins is too expensive, drop to a lower denomination rather than reducing the coin count.

Is video poker low volatility?

No. A large share of the return sits in the royal flush, which appears roughly once in 40,000 hands. Full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better has a variance of about 19.51 and a standard deviation of about 4.42 per hand, and sessions rarely finish ahead without a royal.

Can strategy make video poker profitable?

Not on any paytable realistically available online. Optimal play on a full-pay 9/6 table still leaves a 0.46% house edge. Some paytables are theoretically above 100%, but realising that return requires perfect play across tens of millions of hands and those versions are close to unavailable online.

Why do bonuses exclude video poker?

Because its house edge is low, so an operator recovers little from the required turnover. Contributions are commonly cut to 10–20% or removed entirely, which multiplies the effective wagering requirement several times over.

Where can I get help if gambling is causing problems?

The Gambling Helpline is free and available 24 hours a day on 0800 654 655, or by free text to 8006. Support is also available to whānau and friends.