Video poker quality in Las Vegas dropped over the past few years. Station Casinos removed full pay Deuces Wild and full pay Joker Poker.
Boyd Gaming removed 100% games from all its locations except California and Sam’s Town. It was not that long ago that Skyline Casino converted its 10-coin quarter full pay Deuces Wild machines into 99% games.
There are still many great video poker games in Las Vegas. You just need to know where to find them. The payback percentages noted below assume perfect strategy and five coins wagered.
Arizona Charlie’s has the best Las Vegas video poker
There are two Arizona Charlie’s casinos in Las Vegas. One is on Decatur Blvd north of Charleston. The other is on Boulder Highway.
Both these casinos have a bank of 100% machines. The best games are full pay Deuces Wild (100.76%) and full pay Joker Poker (100.64%). There is also 10/7 Double Bonus (100.17%) and 10/6 Double Double Bonus (100.07%). The Decatur location has quarter and half dollar denominations. It is only quarter at Arizona Charlie’s Boulder Highway. Some 100% games go down to the nickel denomination.
I did not know that the Decatur location added half dollar to the denomination until I checked VPFree2. That is a new change. VPFree2 is a great resource for Las Vegas video poker players.
Sam’s Town
Sam’s Town is the lone holdout in the Boyd Gaming group with a library of video poker games that return over 100%. Deuces Wild is the best game. There is also 10/7 Double Bonus and Loose Deuces (100.15%). Quarter is the highest denomination. Some games are available in nickels. Sam’s Town also has a variety of 99% and better video poker games up to the $1 denomination.
Plaza
Plaza has two 100% or better video poker games. The best is quarter full pay Joker Poker. There is one machine left with 10/7 Double Bonus. The denominations there are quarter, half dollar and dollar.
Plaza also has banks of 99% and better games, as well as about half the machines at the bars. The denominations are quarter, half dollar, dollar and two dollars. The best of this bunch is 9/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe (99.64%) with 9/6 Jacks or Better getting an honorable mention. One of these games is Deuces and Joker Wild (99.07%). I am not aware of this pay table being available anywhere else in Las Vegas.
10/7 Double Bonus (100.17%)
From here, many casinos tie with 10/7 Double Bonus. Casinos with this game beyond the ones mentioned above include California, Four Queens, Skyline and all Station Casinos properties except Wildfires.
Other 100% video poker games
Station Casinos offer a 100.15% version of Loose Deuces, 10/6 Double Double Bonus and 99.9% Triple Deuces Wild. The Triple Deuces Wild game is also available at some Boyd Gaming casinos.
Best Las Vegas bar video poker
Four Queens has the best bar video poker in Las Vegas. It is 10/6 Double Double Bonus with a slight short pay on a straight flush. It returns 99.96% and is available in $0.50 and $1 denominations.
South Point takes second place with Not-so-ugly-ducks (99.73%) at the bar, as well as games like 9/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe and 9/6 Jacks or Better. Plaza and Skyline Casino have 9/6 Jacks or Better at the bar. Many Station Casinos bars have 8/5 Bonus Poker (99.17%).
Main Street Station was once on this list. The casino reopened in 2021 with 9/6 Jacks or Better at the bar, only to remove it a week later.
Casinos with 99% video poker
There are dozens of casinos with 99% or better video poker. Nearly every Las Vegas Strip casino has at least 9/7 Double Bonus (99.11%) and/or 8/5 Bonus Poker (99.17%). At Sahara and Tropicana, these games are available in the $1 denomination. I believe that it takes $5 or $25 to get these games at the higher end Las Vegas Strip casinos. A few Strip casinos on the lower end have none of these games.
I broke the following groups into two sections. Tier 1 is casinos that have 99.5% or better games, like 9/5 Triple Bonus Plus, Not-so-ugly-ducks, 9/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe and 9/6 Jacks or Better. Tier 2 is when the best game is 9/6 Double Double Bonus, 9/7 Double Bonus and/or 8/5 Bonus Poker.
Downtown Las Vegas video poker tier 1
- California
- El Cortez (mostly on coin machines)
- Four Queens
- Main Street Station
- Plaza
Downtown Las Vegas video poker tier 2
- Binion’s
- Circa
- Downtown Grand
- Fremont
- Golden Gate
- The D
Note the absence of Golden Nugget from both lists. It is the only downtown Las Vegas casino where I have never found a 99% or better video poker game.
Locals/off-Strip casinos video poker tier 1
- All Boyd Gaming (except Jokers Wild)
- All Station Casinos (excluding Wildfire group)
- Arizona Charlie’s
- Emerald Island (also best multi hand/variant pay tables in market)
- Eureka
- Jerry’s Nugget
- M Resort
- Rainbow Club
- Skyline
- South Point
Locals/off-Strip casinos video poker tier 2
- Ellis Island
- Jokers Wild
- Mohegan Sun
- Oyo
- Rampart
- Silver Sevens
- Tuscany
- Westgate
- Wildfire
It is inevitable that I missed something. It is impossible to keep a perfect record of video poker games. I did a few fact checks against VPFree2 to make sure. If you know of something that I missed, please contact us by email, Twitter or Facebook.
