Video Poker - Full Pay Games

Full Pay Games

When modern video poker games first appeared, the highest-paying common variant of a particular game was called "Full-Pay". Game variants that returned a lower payback percentage were termed "Short-Pay". Though the term Full-Pay is still in use, today, there are many game variants that return more. Payback percentage expresses the long-term expected value of the player's wager as a percentage if the game is played perfectly. A payback percentage of 99 percent, for example, indicates that for each $100 wagered, in the long run, the player would expect to lose $1 if they played every hand in the optimal way. Some Payback percentages on full-pay games are often close to or even in excess of 100 percent. Full-pay Jacks or Better, for example, offers a payback percentage of 99.54%.

Casinos don't usually advertise the payback percentages, leaving it up to the player to identify which video poker machines offer the best schedules.

The payoff schedules for most video poker machines are configured with a pay schedule that pays proportionally more for certain hands (such as the Royal Flush) when the maximum number of credits (typically 5 coins) is bet. Therefore, players who do not play with the maximum number of credits at a time are playing with a smaller theoretical return.