Ranking the Hands in Video Poker Games

Video-poker hands are identified by ranks and suits, not by where the cards appear on the screen. A royal flush remains a royal even when its five cards are displayed out of order. A natural royal flush is ten, jack, queen, king and ace of one suit. A straight flush is another sequence of five cards in one suit. Four of a kind contains four cards of the same rank. A full house contains three cards of one rank and two of another. A flush has five cards of one suit. A straight has five consecutive ranks; its cards need not share a suit. Three of a kind, two pair and a qualifying single pair complete the usual paying categories in Jacks or Better. A pair of jacks or higher qualifies there, while a lower pair alone does not. Wild-card games need their own pay table. In Deuces Wild, twos can substitute for other cards. A natural royal, a wild royal, four deuces and five of a kind can be separate categories with different awards. Bonus variants can also pay different amounts for different ranks of four of a kind or for a particular kicker. Identify the cards first, then check the exact category and payout. Do not assume that the printed category order is a universal ranking of awards.