How to play
Pick’em Poker is a video poker game with no draw: instead of holding and replacing cards, you choose between two piles.
- Choose your bet: Bet steps through 1 to 5 credits, Bet max bets 5 and deals at once.
- Press Deal. Two cards are dealt face up on the left: they are always part of your hand.
- On the right are two piles of three cards. Only the top card of each pile is showing.
- Tap a pile (or Take A / Take B). Your hand is your two cards plus the three cards of that pile. Both piles are then turned over.
- The hand is paid from the table. There is no second decision.
Every hand comes from a freshly shuffled 52-card deck, with no wild cards.
Pay table
Amounts are what comes back, for 1 to 5 credits bet. The lowest paying hand is a pair of 9s.
| Hand | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 1,000 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 4,000 | 6,000 |
| Straight flush | 200 | 400 | 600 | 800 | 1,199 |
| Four of a kind | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 600 |
| Full house | 18 | 36 | 54 | 72 | 90 |
| Flush | 15 | 30 | 45 | 60 | 75 |
| Straight | 11 | 22 | 33 | 44 | 55 |
| Three of a kind | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Two pair | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Pair of 9s or better | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
The royal flush, straight flush and four of a kind pay more per credit at 5 credits. Everything else pays the same per credit at any bet.
The odds
With the best choice on every hand, the game returns 99.95% at 5 credits and 98.95% at 1 to 4 credits (house edges 0.05% and 1.05%). We computed these exactly: for every possible pair of kept cards and every pair of top cards, the game adds up the value of all the cards that could be under each top card, takes the better pile, and averages over every deal. The test that checks it runs on every build.
Strategy
The choice is simple to state: take the pile whose expected payout is higher, given your two cards, both top cards and the 48 cards you can’t see. The game’s strategy hint does exactly that and marks the better pile, so it plays perfectly.
Some rules of thumb that follow from it:
- Pair the top card with your hand. A top card that matches one of your two cards makes a pair at least. With a 9 or higher that pair already pays.
- High cards beat low cards. A pair of 9s or better pays, a pair of 8s doesn’t. With nothing else to go on, the higher top card is usually better.
- Suits and runs matter less than pairs. A suited or connected top card keeps a flush or straight possible, but the two hidden cards both have to fit. A pair is much more often the better bet.
- Bet 5 credits. The full royal, straight flush and four of a kind payouts only come at 5 credits; that’s the difference between 98.95% and 99.95%.
If you enjoy Pick’em Poker, try Pineapple or Pirate’s Cove next.
