• To see how slots pay less than true odds to give the house an edge, let’s set up an example that’s as streamlined as slot odds can get, a game of the type used in the early decades after Charles Fey invented the three-reel slot machine in 1895. A hypothetical three-reel slot game with one 7, two bars, three cherries and four watermelons per.
• Video poker games and slot machine games share multiple similarities, but the one most pertinent to this page is that they both have pay tables. The purpose of this page is to explain why video poker pay tables are so important to experts and intermediate players alike.

1. Understanding Slot Machine Pay Tables
2. Understanding Slot Machine Pay Tables Printable
3. Understanding Slot Machine Pay Tables Table

Jacks or Better is the video poker game on which all other games are based. Understanding this pay table is one of the first things any prospective player should undertake. Here’s an example of a Jacks or Better pay table:

We want to point out a couple of things about the pay table above. First of all, notice the disproportionately higher payout for the royal flush when you bet 5 coins. See how it pays out 250 to 1 for every bet of fewer than 5 coins? But then it pays out 800 to 1 for the royal flush.

Understanding Slot Machine Pay Tables

The next 2 payouts that are especially important are the payouts for the full house and the flush, in this case, 9 and 6. This is the best version of Jacks or Better that you’ll find. Pros call this a “full pay” game, or a 9/6 Jacks or Better game.

Based on the payoff amounts above, if you play with optimal strategy, this game offers you a 99.54% payback percentage. That’s the amount that the machine pays back in the long run, based on the odds of hitting these hands compared with the payoffs for these hands.

But this is not the most common Jacks or Better pay table. You’ll also see 8/5 games, 7/5 games, and even 6/5 games. Each of these has lower payouts for those hands, and correspondingly lower payback percentages.

Here’s a table listing the most common pay tables for Jacks or Better along with the payback percentage for each if you play with optimal strategy:

• 9/6
• 99.54%

• 8/6
• 98.39%

• 7/5
• 96.15%

Understanding Slot Machine Pay Tables Printable

If you know anything about slot machines, you’ll notice that even the worst pay table at Jacks or Better video poker offers a better payback percentage than most slot machine games.

The technical gambling term for the lines on a slot machine is paylines. There is a reason for that name. What shows up on the lines determines whether or not you win. Today, there are countless slot machines with varying numbers of paylines. Some video slot machines have up to 25+ lines that can be played at once.

Understanding Slot Machine Pay Tables Table

Unfortunately, other video poker games don’t necessarily make it so easy to determine the payback percentage. That’s because they vary the payoffs for more hands than just the full house and the flush. We’ll take a look at some of these other games and their pay tables below.