Gamblezen Poker UK

Deuces Wild

Deuces Wild uses a single 52-card deck, and every Two slots into whatever gap your hand needs as a wild card. I landed Four Deuces once during a test session, the second-best hand behind a Royal Flush and just above Three of a Kind, which pays out at the bottom of the chart.

Wild cards inflate your odds of winning, so Gamblezen's payout tables run tighter than a straight Jacks or Better game. Check the paytable before you commit your bankroll if you spot the Not-So-Ugly Deuces Wild variant; the gap between versions can shift your return by a couple of percentage points.

Jacks or Better

Jacks or Better is where I'd point any first-time player. The lowest paying hand is a pair of Jacks, hence the name, and the rules stay close to standard five-card draw poker.

The paytable is easy to read, and the hold-or-discard decisions are transparent enough that you can work out the right move within a few hands. That simplicity is why it still serves as the benchmark for every other video poker variant on the site.

Tens or Better

Tens or Better mirrors Jacks or Better card for card, but the winning threshold drops to a pair of Tens. Gamblezen shifts the whole paytable toward smaller, more frequent wins by making that one change.

The Full House pays 6x your stake here and the Flush pays 5x, against 9x and 6x on Jacks or Better, which is why regulars call it 6/5 Jacks or Better. Hit the double-up feature after a win and you get a shot at doubling your payout, same as the bonus round on Jacks or Better.

Joker Poker

Add a Joker to the standard 52 cards and you get Joker Poker, or Joker's Wild as some tables label it. The winning floor rises to Kings or Better, which sounds harsh until you realise the extra wild card compensates for it.

A Five of a Kind hand ranks just below a Natural Royal Flush, and a Straight Flush comes in third. I'd choose the 7/5 paytable over the 6/5 version whenever Gamblezen offers both, since the return gap is worth chasing. Kings or Better is the full-pay standard, though Two Pairs or Better and Aces or Better versions turn up now and again.

Aces and Faces

Aces and Faces keeps the Jacks or Better framework but pays a premium on Four of a Kind hands built from Aces or face cards. In the 8/5 version, Four Aces beats a Straight Flush outright, paying 80 to 1 against the Straight Flush's 50 to 1.

Land four face cards and you're looking at 40 to 1. Gamblezen also runs 7/6 and 7/5 tables of this variant, so your return depends on which machine you land on.

Bonus Poker

Bonus Poker takes the Jacks or Better framework and loads extra value onto Four of a Kind hands. Everything else follows the standard ranking, but four Aces pays 80x your stake rather than the flatter payout you'd get elsewhere.

The full-pay version runs 8/5, meaning the Full House pays 8x and the Flush pays 5x, with a 7/5 variant also in circulation. Double Bonus Poker pushes this further again if you want to chase bigger Four of a Kind payouts.

Test More Than One Strategy

No strategy guarantees a win, since the outcome runs on RNG. Switching between hold strategies changes how fast your bankroll depletes, and experimenting taught me more about pacing than any single "optimal" chart could.

Chase the Best Paytable Every Time

The same game title can carry different payout structures depending on the machine, similar to RTP variance across slots. I check the paytable before placing a single bet now, and it's saved me from sitting on a 6/5 table when an 8/5 version sat one click away.

Set a Limit Before You Log In

Video poker plays fast, and the solo pace means nothing pulls you away from the screen. I set a £20 loss limit and a 45-minute timer before every session, and if my mood sours before either runs out, I close the tab anyway.