Video Poker Dictionary

All casino games have their own lingo. Understanding the various terms will enable you to pick up the game quickly and talk like a pro.

The terms below, listed in alphabetical order to help you find exactly what you're looking for, are used in online casinos – both within the various player information pages and the online chat rooms and forums.

Bet Max
Short for 'maximum bet' generally five coins per hand.

Cash Out
The term used to describe you taking your winnings at the end of a game. It gets deposited into your casino account.

Credits
Refers to how much money you have in your machine as well as the value of the prizes.

Denomination
This is either the value on the face of the cards or the value of the coins used in a particular online video poker machine.

Discard Cards
The cards that you throw so that you can be dealt new replacements.

Double Up
Some games give you a secondary betting option.

Draw
Any subsequent deal (or deals) after the initial hand has been dealt.

Edge or House Edge
This is the statistical advantage that the casino has on games. Different games have different edges.

Expected Return
The average amount paid back on any particular play for a specific bet. It is the Expected Value (see below) multiplied by the amount of the bet.

Expected Value (EV), Average Payback or Payback
The EV is the average amount you will win for all possible outcomes for any particular play. Check what is available and play the machine with the highest EV.

Flush
A hand with all five cards being of the same suit.

Four of a Kind or Quads
A hand with four cards of the same denomination or value, for example four 5s or four 2s. The fifth card is irrelevant.

Full House
A hand which has three of a kind and a pair, for example; three 5s and two 9s.

Full Pay
This term describes the best possible pay out schedule for a particular game.

Hand
These are the five cards dealt to you (even after discards/draws). A hand that results in a prize is called a 'winning hand'.

Hold
If you 'hold' a card after the initial dealing then you choose to keep it.

Inside Straight
A hand needing the middle card to secure a win for the 'Straight' winning hand.

Jackpot
An extra prize for getting the higher ranking hands. Jackpots are often progressive – creeping up in total if no high scoring hands are won.

Kicker
A card that when added to a hand increases the win. The Kicker varies for different games.

Maximum Coins
The maximum number of coins you can play per hand, usually five.

Multi Hand
Some video poker games allow you to play more than one hand at a time, for example, triple, five and ten hand play.

Odds
The statistically likelihood of any winning hand occurring.

Pat Hand
For those lucky few! A pat hand is one that is complete and cannot be improved directly after the initial deal. For example, a royal flush.

Pay Off
The amount paid for any particular winning hand. For example, a 4000 pay off for a Royal Flush on a $0.25 machine is 4000 x 0.25 equaling $1000.

Pay Table
Displayed on every video poker game, the payout table shows the payback for each winning hand.

Progressive Jackpot
A jackpot that grows with the number of players using the machine.

Quads
See Four of a Kind

Random Number Generator
Also known as RNG. Technology used to ensure completely random dealing.

Royal Flush
The highest possible hand on most machines, for example the ten, jack, queen, king and ace of hearts. A royal flush can be in any order.

Sequential Royal Flush
This is a royal flush in numerical order from 10 on the left to ace on the right.

Straight
A five card hand in consecutive numerical order but different suits.

Straight Flush
A 'Straight' but all in the same suit and in consecutive order.

Strategy Card
Strategy cards show the correct play for every possible hand on a particular game. They refer to the hand you are dealt and the hand you should be aiming for.

Suit
There are four suits in a playing deck – clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades.

Three of a kind
A hand that contains three cards of the same denomination.

Two Pairs
A hand that consists of two separate pairs.

Wild Card
Some games have an added rule whereby a nominated card that can substituted for all other card, for example in Deuces Wild and Joker Poker.

Wild Royal Flush
A Royal Flush made up with at least one wild card – this pays out less than a standard Royal Flush.