What Is Return in Video Poker & How Can It Be Calculated?

Most serious video poker players understand what elements define a good game. These elements include return, variance, and strategy complexity. For most serious players, return is the main element considered when choosing a video poker game to play.

Many video poker players understand what return is. Fewer understand how video poker return varies during play. Fewer still know how to calculate their actual return for a session, day, trip, or year. This article addresses these topics.

Contents

1. Return in video poker defined
2. Examples of typical video poker returns
3. How to calculate actual video poker return – short term and long term
4. Summary

1 – Return in video poker defined

Return is simply the amount of money that is returned to the player on average from the casino. It is expressed as a percentage. For example, a return of 95% means that on average for every $100 played through the game, $95 is returned to the player as winnings. The casino enjoys a 5% profit on this machine.

The short-term return can vary wildly. The player could hit a royal flush, skyrocketing the player’s return. The player could also go long periods of time without hitting any wins of consequence, plummeting the player’s return.

After long periods of play, however, the return should approach the mathematically calculated percentage which is based on an infinite number of hands.

2 – Examples of typical video poker returns

Video poker returns vary depending on the casino, casino location (in Las Vegas, the Strip, downtown, and locals’ casinos), specific video poker game, denomination, and even game location within a casino. Some typical returns: 

• Locals’ casinos – 97-99% and higher
• Downtown Las Vegas – 96-99% and higher
• Las Vegas Strip – 95-98%

Obviously, there are some casino games that are outside of these ranges, but these percentages are typical for the area specified.

3 – How to calculate actual video poker return – short term and long term

Many video poker players I know are not really worried about the return percentage. They only keep track of how much they brought to the casino and what they have left when they leave. Those figures alone are not enough.

To calculate return percentage, several pieces of information are required. They are:

• Amount inserted into the game(s)
• Amount cashed out
• Number of hands played
• Amount bet per hand

It is very difficult to keep track of hands played. One good method of doing this is keeping track of the number of player’s club points earned for the session and knowing the dollars required per point. Additional information to calculate number of hands played:

• Beginning player’s club points
• Ending player’s club points
• Amount required per point

Getting the amount inserted into the game and the amount cashed out is straightforward. Simply log the amount every time another bill or bills is/are inserted. Then log the amount of every cash-out.

The amount played per hand is also straightforward. This can be done by logging the bet per hand or by multiplying the denomination by the number of credits per hand (usually five).

What follows is a detailed explanation of how to calculate the actual return percentage from any amount of play.

1. Add up the total amount inserted.
2. Add up the total amount cashed out.
3. Subtract the total amount inserted from the total amount cashed out giving the amount won (positive result) or lost (negative result).

Next calculate the total amount played through the game. This is calculated by multiplying the amount bet per hand by the number of hands played.

• Amount bet per hand – use the amount logged or multiply the denomination by the credits played per hand (usually five).
• Number of hands played – if this number was counted and logged, use it. Otherwise, it must be calculated based on player’s club points.

1. Subtract the beginning player’s club points from the ending player’s club points giving the points earned for the session.
2. Multiply the points earned by the amount required per point giving the amount played through the game for the session.
3. Divide the amount played by the amount bet per hand giving the total hands played for the session.

All the information required to calculate the return percentage is now available. Multiply hands played by amount bet per hand giving the amount played.

Divide the amount won/lost by the amount played and multiply that by 100 to give the actual return percentage for the session.

Notice that when using player’s club points to calculate hands played, the amount played is an interim step, so if you do not care about the hands played, there is no need to do that calculation.

The exact same process is used to calculate actual return percentage for a day, visit, or year. Simply add up the amount won/lost, and the amount played for each session you want included in the final result, divide the total amount won/lost by the total amount played and multiply by 100 for the actual return percentage for the period being calculated. 

Here is the calculation in mathematical notation.

• amount played = number of hands played x amount per hand
• return percentage = amount won/lost/amount played x 100.

The calculations are simple. Getting all the required data can be a little more challenging.

For more information, check out 888poker's complete video poker strategy guide.

4 – Summary

The mathematical return percentage is based on an infinite number of plays. To calculate a short-term (session, day, trip, month, year, etc.) return percentage you need:

• Amount won (expressed as a positive value) or lost (negative value)
• Amount played through the game (number of hands played times amount bet per hand)

To get the total amount played requires multiplying the hands played by the amount bet per hand. Knowing the actual return percentage is not required for better play. It is an interesting side note for serious players.