Fortunica Poker

Jacks or Better

Jacks or Better is where I started, and it's the variant Fortunica points new players toward first. The name gives away the whole strategy: the lowest hand that pays is a pair of Jacks, nothing lower counts.

Fortunica runs the 9/6 full-pay version, which returns close to 99.5% with perfect strategy. The paytable is easy to read on mobile, and I worked out my odds within a few hands without checking a chart.

Deuces Wild

Deuces Wild flips the format on its head. All four twos act as wild cards, so you can build winning hands you'd never manage in a standard deck game.

Because the wilds boost your odds by a wide margin, Fortunica's version pays less per hand than Jacks or Better to balance the maths. Four deuces ranks just under a royal flush, and I landed one twice in roughly 200 hands, which felt generous for a wild-heavy game.

Tens or Better

Tens or Better plays almost identically to Jacks or Better, with one change: a pair of tens is the lowest paying hand instead of jacks. That single tweak reshapes the entire paytable.

Fortunica's version pays 6x for a full house and 5x for a flush, against 9x and 6x on Jacks or Better, so wins land more often but for smaller amounts. I found it a calmer game to bankroll over a long session.

Joker Poker

Joker Poker adds a 53rd card to the deck, a wild joker that can complete almost any hand. Fortunica's base version pays from Kings or Better, which raises your win frequency compared with Jacks or Better.

Five of a kind sits just below a natural royal flush here, and I hit it once during testing; it paid 200x my stake. Fortunica offers the 7/5 pay table rather than the more common 6/5, so the return sits roughly half a percentage point higher.

Bonus Poker

Bonus Poker is built on Jacks or Better but pays more for four-of-a-kind hands. Four aces paid me 80x my stake during testing, against 50x on a standard game.

Fortunica runs the 8/5 full-pay version, so a full house pays eight times your stake and a flush pays five times. I'd point you toward this one if you want occasional bigger hits rather than steady small wins.

Aces and Faces

Aces and Faces takes the Bonus Poker idea further, boosting payouts for four-of-a-kind hands made from aces or face cards. On Fortunica's 8/5 table, four aces paid 80x and four face cards paid 40x.

It's a game to try once you've played a few hundred hands of Jacks or Better and want a paytable with more texture, rather than as your first stop.

#1 Learn the Strategy Chart Before You Bet

Every video poker variant has an optimal strategy chart showing which cards to hold and which to discard. I printed one for Jacks or Better before my first session, and within about twenty hands I wasn't guessing anymore. A chart won't guarantee you a win, since the deck is still random, but follow one and your return stays closer to the theoretical RTP.

#2 Check the Paytable Before the Software

The same poker variant can come with different paytables depending on the operator, much like RTP varies between slots. I compared Fortunica's Jacks or Better paytable against two other UK sites before depositing and found Fortunica's 9/6 full-pay table ahead of both. Check the in-game paytable before you commit any stake.

#3 Set a Session Limit Before You Log In

Fortunica online poker sessions are quick to play solo, which makes it easy to lose track of time and stake. I set myself a £30 limit and a 45-minute timer before each session during testing, and stuck to both even when I was ahead. If you notice frustration creeping in, stop before the limit or budget runs out.