Best Real Money and Free Online Video Poker Games

Video poker was once the rising star in the gambling world, with huge player interest and new game versions introduced every few months.

Its main appeal was a very low house advantage (sometimes no house advantage) and its ability to put players in an almost trance-like state as they worked through which cards to toss and which to keep.

Early players also liked the fact that the games were played on a video screen instead of the mechanical slots that were popular at the time, and slot manufacturers took notice.

Soon, almost every new slot machine was also played on a video screen.

Using computers in these new slots meant they could now offer themed games and huge progressive jackpots, and video poker slowly lost ground to the new age of slots. But with the advent of legal online gambling in the United States, video poker is undergoing an impressive resurgence.

Not only are new, elaborate, exciting video poker games coming out, but because online casinos don’t need to buy expensive video poker machines or pay slot attendants, you can often find these games at very low limits. You can also find free video poker, as casinos want you to learn to play before you risk real money.

Check out the rest of this guide for everything you’ll need to know about online video poker, including how the game works, the best online casinos to play at, and much more!

How Do Free Online Video Poker Games Work?

Many of the newer video poker games introduced over the past few years have multipliers and multiple hands, as well as other features like stickies that weren’t seen in the original classics like Jacks or Better or Deuces Wild.

To allow players to play and understand these games, you can play video poker free at online casinos in demo mode or at the actual game manufacturer’s site. While you can’t win real money, you can understand the game well and even have fun playing for free.

Ultimate X Video Poker

Ultimate X Video Poker is a multiplier added to any of the usual multiplay video poker games. But in this video poker variant, you can double the usual five-coin bet to 10 coins and receive a multiplier on all hands from a simple three-of-a-kind up to any four-of-a-kind. These will stay put until hit. If you are dealt a winner, some multipliers will go even higher.

Quick Quads Video Poker

Quick Quads Video Poker requires an extra coin bet, and if enabled, then the sum of the two cards, which aren’t the same when you are dealt three of a kind, can also trigger a four-of-a-kind. For instance, if you are dealt three 5s and a 3 and 2, you will be paid as if you hit the four of a kind. This gives you 2.5x as many four-of-a-kinds as you would usually be dealt. This only works on four of a kinds from twos to tens.

Hundred Play Wheel Poker

Hundred Play Wheel Poker is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the original Wheel Video Poker game that gave a wheel spin on all four of a kinds, but now combined with up to one hundred hands in play. For simplicity’s sake, you get a multiplier up to 10x on each four-of-a-kind to keep wheel spins to a minimum. For instance, 12 four of a kinds would net you one wheel spin with a 10x multiplier and a second wheel spin with a 2x multiplier.

Power House Video Poker

Power House Video Poker also gives multipliers for doubling your bet on any multiplay game. You get extra games if you are dealt a winning hand before the draw. These will also occasionally have multipliers as well.

Stack ’em High Video Poker

Stack ’em High Video Poker sees us double our bet in return for sticky aces. If you are dealt two aces, you could get as many as another twelve hands dealt above it. If any of those hands receive an ace, then all hands dealt further up the stack also have that ace in the hand. Some poker variants award as many as thirteen hands for the 3rd ace.

Fortune X Video Poker

Fortune X Video Poker randomly offers up a multiplier on every 11% of hands dealt when you double your bet. You can decline the offer, and the multiplier will go higher. When it gets to 12x, the multiplier is automatically accepted regardless of the strength of your hand. You are better off not accepting the multiplier until you have a good hand, but waiting til it gets to twelve may not be the best call either.

Best Online Casinos for Video Poker

We looked over the casino bonuses for the eight best online casinos with video poker machines, and these are the absolute best for 2024:

Caesars Palace Online Casino

Caesars Palace Online Casino’s signup bonus for new users includes both a $2,500 deposit match and 2500 Caesars Rewards Points, which can be used at any of their 50+ properties for comped rooms, meals, or even free play.

Caesars has been a little wishy-washy about whether video poker play counts towards its 15x play through to clear your deposit match, so check the current terms and conditions if you won’t be playing slots at all. It seems New Jersey is currently a slots-only state, while other states have a 30x play-through on video poker, but that could easily change.

BetMGM Casino

BetMGM Casino also features the $2,500 initial match with an added $50 bonus just for registering. You won’t get a stash of BetMGM rewards points immediately, but you will earn them on every bet you make.

No one matches BetMGM’s game selection, video poker included. Not only do they have one of the biggest slot libraries and a huge table game selection, but they also offer a wide array of video poker options. Beyond the standard GameKing suite of games, BetMGM offers titles from a slew of other providers.

bet365 Casino

bet365 Casino matches your largest deposit in the first seven days that your account is open up to $1,000, and they have a 20x play-through requirement if you are using video poker play to clear your casino bonus.

bet365 Casino offers the full suite of online video poker, including Jacks or Better all the way through Deuces Wild and everything in between. While they may not be a household name, bet365 has a long history in gambling throughout the world, dating back to the turn of the century, and has always been an innovator in online gambling. bet365 is one of our top choices in the US, and if you give them a chance, you will see why.

FanDuel Casino

FanDuel Casino takes a different approach to their initial deposit bonuses. They will return up to $1,000 in losses in the first 24 hours you open your account. They also only require a one-time play-through on that bonus money. Plus, video poker can be used to clear the bonus.

While FanDuel got its start in DFS (daily fantasy sports) they quickly took over the online sports betting market and now have their eyes set on taking over the online casino market too. FanDuel will never wow you with its game selection, but what they lack in variety, they more than make up for in ease of use, bonus offers and a shared wallet that crosses over all legal states.

Golden Nugget Online Casino

Golden Nugget Online Casino offers a $1,000 deposit match and 200 free spins if you deposit at least $30. They don’t count video poker like most sites, so you will need to complete a 40x play-through instead of just 10x. But their app offers many free video poker games in demo mode.

Golden Nugget ruled the online casino world when they first launched in 2013 in New Jersey, but have given up some market share as the game has become more and more competitive year after year.

They earned this legendary spot in the casino space by offering an extremely robust gaming library, and nowhere on the site is it more obvious than in their video poker section. Golden Nugget offers video poker from all the big names and allows you to try all the titles for free in demo mode without any risk.

Fanatics Casino

Fanatics Casino is up and running in West Virginia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania but as they work through the growing pains of launching an online casino site, their new player offer is a bit lackluster. They are offering 100 free spins on the Cash Eruption slot game, which means you will need to play through the free spins before jumping into the Video Poker section.

While Fanatics Casino does not have an impressive slot or table game selection (yet) they do have several video game titles to choose from. Their mobile app-only online casino gives you more than a dozen video poker games to choose from to keep you coming back and daily and weekly casino promotions to help keep growing that bankroll.

Borgata Casino

Borgata Casino offers lots of video poker machines for you to choose from. They have the same initial deposit bonus of $1,000 as their parent company, BetMGM. Video poker does contribute to its play-through, but only at a partial rate.

While we suggest getting through the new player offer with online slots, you can take those winnings over to their strong selection of video poker games. To find your game of choice, you will have to click on the table games section and navigate down to the Top Poker Games option and sort through, but once you open your game of choice, you can save it to your favorites for easy navigation the next time you log in.

Ocean Online Casino

Ocean Online Casino offers a strong 100% deposit match up to $1200 on any new user’s initial deposit. Sadly, video poker doesn’t qualify for its play-through, so this is another site where you will need to play slots to clear the initial bonus and then navigate over to video poker.

Once you do, you will find the full GameKing suite of games plus a half dozen offerings from other providers. Ocean Casino’s site is one of the fastest and more reliable sites, rarely causing location issues or any drama upon logging in. Ocean Casino allows you to earn points towards their retail casino rewards program that can lead to free rooms, free dining and more!

Game-Specific Casino Bonuses

Online casinos will also offer specific promotions or bonuses for online video poker players. Primarily, these promotions target the most popular styles of video poker. Besides keeping an eye out for bonuses, you will need to ensure that the paytable you are playing provides at least a 98% return. A good paytable is just as good as a casino bonus in the long run.

Also, watch for video poker tournaments. Not only are these fun, but if you are a skilled player or use the basic strategy chart for the correct video poker game, you should have a slight advantage over most other players.

Jacks or Better

A 9/6 Jacks or Better video poker machine pays 9 to 1 for a full house and 6 to one for a flush. The Return To Player (RTP) on this paytable is 99.54%. 9/5 Jacks or better will still get you an RTP of 98.45%, and if 8/6 is the best pay table you can find, it is still 98.39%.

Joker Poker

Joker Poker is a rare paytable denoted as 10/6/5, as those are the payouts on full houses, flushes, and straights. It has an RTP of 99.92%. Note that the wild royal and straight flush only pay 50 to 1.

The more common paytable ups the wild royal and straight flush to 100 to 1, but they reduce the much more frequent payouts on full houses, flushes, and straights to 8/5/4. This variant pays out 98.59%.

Deuces Wild

There are a lot of paytables for Deuces Wild, and the full pay variant pays a whopping 100.76% back to the player when played perfectly. The video poker machine dubbed Not So Ugly Deuces pays back 99.73%.

The difference is the full pay Deuces Wild gives you 15 to one on a five-of-a-kind and 11 to one on a straight flush, while the NSUD game pays 16 to one for the five-of-a-kind but only 10 to one on a straight flush.

How to Get Started Playing Video Poker at Online Casinos

Online casinos don’t make money from making it hard to get your new account set up, but they do answer to their state’s gaming control body. They will need to ensure that you are of legal age, not on a banned or self-excluded list, and that you are actually in the state where you wish to play. This can sometimes cause some snags during the registration process, but we are here to get you through it.

Once you’ve decided which online casino you would like to play at, follow the directions below:

Click on any of the links on this page to guarantee the best new player offer.
Click ‘register’ on the landing page and enter your personal information.
Your account will be verified quickly and you will be just minutes away from spinning the reels.
Your no deposit bonus should be credited to your account if included in your offer.
Make your initial deposit using the deposit method of your choosing.
Start playing!

Free Online Video Poker vs. Real Money Play

The pros of free video poker are pretty straightforward. You can play for free; sometimes, you won’t need to register. You can practice your strategy and enjoy the flow of the game without worrying about losing any real money, and you can play for free in all fifty states.

When playing for real money, you must be in one of just six states where video poker is legal. Still, you have a chance to not only win big progressive jackpots, but all of your play will earn you rewards points with some of the biggest casino companies in the country.

Many more types of video poker games are available for real money online casino players, and you can generally earn bonuses, promotions, and giveaways by playing video poker with the right online casinos.

Finding the Best Online Video Poker Game for You

With so many different types of video poker available now, it is important to consider what you like about the game. If you like medium volatility with more medium-sized jackpots, maybe some of the double bonus poker games would be your style.

If you like lots of action, look for the Deuces Wild or Joker Poker variants, as they have lots of winning hands and are always just a card or two away from a jackpot.

If you’re a serious player trying to keep the casino’s house advantage to a bare minimum, you need to scour poker paytables looking for full pay or almost full pay machines to keep the RTP as near 99.9% as possible.

With more and more video poker being added to online casinos all the time, no matter what you like about playing video poker, there is a machine out there made just for you.

Frequently Asked Questions About Video Poker

We’ve got some quick answers to all your video poker questions, whether you want to play for free or for real money.

Can I play video poker games on mobile?

Absolutely. All of the major online casinos have tweaked their software to make video poker look stunning on mobile.

How do I find video poker apps?

Almost all legal online casinos offer apps that allow you to play video poker for real money. As long are you are in a legal state or using demo mode, you can find the right casino app for you. You can also find sites online that cater to video poker enthusiasts and have hundreds of different video poker games you can play for free to learn the best strategy.

How do you win at free video poker?

While you can’t really win money with free video poker games, you can get email offers from real casinos when you sign up to play in demo mode. When you can eventually play online legally or travel to Atlantic City or Las Vegas, you’ll have many offers for cheap buffets or discounted rooms.

Which video poker game is the easiest to play?

That’s a tough one, but the one game that everyone should know how to play is Jacks or Better. Once you understand the importance of the pay tables and why you hold what you hold in this game, the strategies for other poker variants will make more sense.

What is the best free online video poker site?

BetMGM Casino has almost 20 video poker games for you to try for free, and of course, they will send you lots of offers in the mail for visits to their properties. With free-to-play games and plenty of rewards, BetMGM Casino is a hard site to beat.