Pick FiveVideo Poker

Pick 5 is a video poker game with a difference. Its played with a standard 52 card deck of cards from which 2 cards are dealt and the player selects one of those cards and the other card is discarded. This process is repeated another 4 times so the player finishes with his 5 card poker hand. It's not a commonly seen game even though it offers a payback of over 100%. Part of the reason for this is due to the game speed being a little slower than most due to the player having to make 5 card decisions.

	1 Coin Wager 5 Coin Wager Royal Flush 800 4,000 Coins/ Credits Straight Flush 50 250 Four of a Kind (Aces ) 160 800 Four of a Kind (2's,3's,4's) 80 400 Four of a Kind (5s's - K's) 40 200 Full House 9 45 Flush 6 30 Straight 4 20 Three of a Kind 3 15 Two Pair 1 5 Pair of Jacks or Better 1 5

I haven't seen this game offered online. In live casinos it can be found on some Williams Corporation multi-game machines.

Pick FiveVideo Poker Strategy

After a little research I found the following information on the strategy of playing this quite complex game. Doug Reul who was associate editor of Video Poker Times and also worked with well known video poker author Dan Paymar came up with the following:

"For your first card, select the first card in this list:
A, J, Q, K, 10, 4, 3, 2, 9, 8, 5, 7, 6
If shown two cards of the same rank, it doesn't matter which one you pick.
For the second through fourth cards, use the following hand rank tables. Each time you are presented with two cards, hold the card which, when combined with other cards already held, will yield the first combination in the respective group.
2nd Card 3rd Card
Any pair 3 of a kind
RF 2 RF 3, SF 3 (any)
SF 2 h1 (any) Any pair
Q-J Flush 3 h2
SF 2 h0 Straight 3 (any)
Flush 2 h1
Two high cards 4th Card
SF 2 i h0 4 of a kind
J-10 3 of a kind
Q-10, J-9 RF 4, SF 4 (any)
Flush 2 Two Pair
One Ace Flush 4
Straight 2 (any) Straight 4
One J, Q or K Any Pair
For the last card, you obviously should pick the card that yields the highest payoff."

As usual, RF2 means "two cards to a royal flush," "h1" means "one high card (jack or higher)," and "i" means "inside draw (e.g. 5-7 or 2-4)."

The above strategy is not optimal but is enough to give a payback of over over 100%. It also doesn't take into account the seen but discarded cards.

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