A payout of $1200 or more triggers a handpay at U.S. casinos. This comes with a W2G tax form. It also stops the game until the transaction is completed. This can take anywhere from a few minutes to up to an hour, depending on the size of the jackpot and how staffed the casino is. Most video poker players want to avoid handpays. In addition to the W2G tax form, it is another tipping situation.
We also cover the advantages of playing quarter video poker and the disadvantages of playing $5 video poker. Additionally, we broke down the math for avoiding a W2G tax form for electronic table games.
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A royal flush is $4000 on most $1 machines when betting five coins. It is more for some Joker Poker games and others with a progressive meter. Most other hands pay below the $1200 taxable threshold.
The best video poker games to play to avoid this situation are the simplest ones. This includes Jacks or Better, Bonus Poker, Bonus Poker Deluxe, Double Bonus Poker, Double Aces and Faces, Joker Poker, and Deuces Wild.
Other games have handpays of $1200 or more on hands beyond a royal flush
Bonus Deuces Wild
There is one Bonus Deuces Wild hand at the dollar denomination beyond a royal flush that triggers a handpay. That is four deuces with an ace. That hand pays $2000. At about one in 35,700, the frequency of this hand is about the same as a royal flush.
Double Double Bonus Poker
Four aces with a two, three, or four kicker pay $2000 at Double Double Bonus. It is the only hand besides a royal flush that triggers one.
Super Aces
Super Aces is another game with a handpay for four aces. When that hand hits, the payout is $2000.
Triple Bonus
Triple Bonus is an obscure game. We found it at Golden Nugget in Atlantic City in the $1 denomination. There are a couple of quarter coin games left at El Cortez. Four aces pays exactly $1200 at the $1 denomination. Avoid this game at this denomination for this reason.
Triple Bonus Plus
Triple Bonus Plus is the 99.8% return game at locals casinos with machines that say “Up to 99.8%.” These machines go up to the $1 denomination. Four aces pay $1200 on this game and denomination.
White Hot Aces
White Hot Aces has the same problem as Triple Bonus and Triple Bonus Plus at the $1 denomination. Four aces pay $1200. Some machines short-pay four aces by a few dollars to keep it under the $1200 limit. One example of this is the $1 coin games at Skyline Casino on Boulder Highway in Las Vegas. Four aces pay $1195. Since it is a coin game, these machines require a handpay. However, there is no W2G.
The $1 Jerry’s Nugget games pay $1200. The same can be said of the White Hot Aces machines in the regional markets.
Loose Deuces
Four deuces at a normal Deuces Wild game pays $1000, staying just under the handpay trigger. That is not the case at Loose Deuces, where the payout is $2500. Machines with $1 Loose Deuces usually have $0.25 and $0.50 versions. The $0.50 version has the same problem, as four deuces pays $1250. You are better off playing standard Deuces Wild.
Triple Deuces Wild
There are a few Triple Deuces Wild machines at the $1 denomination. That has a $3000 payout on four deuces. These same machines usually have $0.50 or quarter for 10 coins. Four Deuces pays $1500 on these games. Playing Deuces Wild at these denominations instead prevents the handpay problem.
Triple Double Bonus Poker
Triple Double Bonus Poker has three handpays available. It has the highest variance of any video poker game on this list. Four aces with a 2, 3, or 4 kicker pays $4000, the same as a royal flush. Four twos, threes, or fours with a kicker pays $2000. To offset these big payouts, three of a kind only pays two coins. That makes Triple Double Bonus Poker a top-heavy game that requires patience and a large bankroll.
