CocoBet Poker UK

Jacks or Better

Jacks or Better is the version most players learn first, and CocoBet stocks a full-pay 9/6 table alongside a lower-paying 6/5 version. The name comes from the lowest winning hand: a pair of Jacks. Anything below that pays nothing, so the strategy boils down to knowing which cards to hold and which to discard.

Because the paytable is easy to read and the odds stay reasonable, this is the variant worth starting with if you're new to video poker at CocoBet.

Deuces Wild

Deuces Wild swaps the whole strategy. All four Twos act as wild cards, so you can slot one into almost any hand to boost it. Four Deuces pays out more than anything except a Royal Flush, and Three of a Kind sits at the bottom of the paytable.

The catch is that CocoBet, like most operators, trims the payouts elsewhere to balance out how often the wilds create winning hands. Try it once you understand the standard paytable.

Joker Poker

Add a Joker to the standard 52-card deck and you get Joker Poker. CocoBet lists this variant as Joker's Wild too. The Joker acts as a wild card, and the lowest winning hand shifts up to Kings or Better, which changes how you play each round.

CocoBet runs the 7/5 pay table on this one, giving better odds than the 6/5 version some sites default to.

Bonus Poker

Bonus Poker builds on Jacks or Better but pays extra for Four of a Kind hands, especially Four Aces. A hand of four aces on the 8/5 version pays 80 times your stake, which is where most of the appeal sits.

Outside of that bump, hand rankings and gameplay stay close to the original Jacks or Better format.

Texas Hold'em

If you want live poker rather than solo video poker, CocoBet runs Texas Hold'em tables with a real dealer streamed to your screen. You get two hole cards, five community cards, and four rounds of betting to work out whether to stay in the hand.

It's slower than video poker, and you'll need to read other players, or at least the dealer's demeanour, as you go.

Omaha Hi-Lo

Omaha Hi-Lo hands out four hole cards instead of two, and the pot can split between the best high hand and the best low hand. It rewards a different kind of thinking than Hold'em, since you're weighing two possible outcomes per hand rather than one.

Learn the Paytable Before You Play

CocoBet displays the paytable for every video poker variant before you spin the first hand. Check whether you're on a full-pay or reduced-pay version, since the difference between an 8/5 and 7/5 game changes your expected return without changing how the game looks on screen.

Set a Budget Before You Sit Down

Poker sessions, live or solo, can run long once you're absorbed in the hands. Decide on a budget and a time limit before you start, and stick to both even if a hand is going well. GamStop and CocoBet's own deposit limits are there if you need extra structure.

Practise Hand Rankings Away From Real Stakes

If you're new to poker, work out hand rankings and basic strategy using free-play tables first. CocoBet's video poker games let you switch to demo mode, so mistakes cost nothing while you learn which cards to hold.