Checked against v1.0.30Data verified
v1.0.30 fixed duplicate-card behavior in 1P Poker.
Paytable, hold strategy & deck state
Gamble With Your Friends Poker Rules & Hand Guide
This page is the decision reference for 1P Poker: the paytable, what to hold, how the deck persists across rounds, and why the fresh-shoe baseline is not a live return.
What kind of game is GWYF Poker?
GWYF Poker is a 1-player 5-card hold/replace game with a fixed paytable and a persistent 52-card deck. It should not be treated as Texas Hold’em or standard multiplayer poker.
Five cards, one hold/replace step, then your made hand settles against the paytable.
| Players | 1P |
|---|---|
| Deck | 1 deck, 52 cards |
| Initial hand | 5 cards |
| Player action | Hold / replace, then settle |
| Deck reset every hand? | No — the deck persists across rounds |
| Top paytable hand | Straight Flush · 50× |
| One Pair | 1× / Push |
| High Card | 0× / Loss |
| Floors | 3 / 4 |
| Base bet | $30–$300, packaged |
| Fresh-shoe optimal baseline | 128.4073% gross |
| Live return | State-dependent |
Using an older guide? Older duplicate-card and minor-bug observations may no longer describe the current build. The paytable and the deck model below are the current production truth.
How GWYF Poker actually works
One round is short. The deck is what makes Poker different from a normal video-poker page.
- Deal 5 cards from the current deck.
- Choose which cards to hold and which to replace.
- Replacement cards are drawn from the same deck.
- The final 5-card hand is matched against the paytable and settles.
- Used cards stay out. The next round continues from the remaining deck.
There is no opponent, no community board and no betting round after the deal. The verified decision is hold versus replace.
Poker Paytable & Hand Ranking
This is the GWYF paytable order. Standard poker lists Royal Flush above Straight Flush. GWYF does not: a royal flush pays as a straight flush.
This follows the verified GWYF paytable, not an assumed standard rule set.
| Hand | Payout | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Straight Flush | 50× | Win |
| Four of a Kind | 25× | Win |
| Full House | 9× | Win |
| Flush | 6× | Win |
| Straight | 4× | Win |
| Three of a Kind | 3× | Win |
| Two Pair | 2× | Win |
| One Pair | 1× | Push |
| High Card | 0× | Loss |
Hand & Payout Checker
Pick a hand. The checker reads the verified paytable, so payout, result and Poker Face eligibility stay linked.
Full House
Three cards of one rank + two cards of another rank.
- Rank
- #3 of 9
- Payout
- 9×
- Poker Face qualifies?
- Yes
Result: Win
Beats
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a Kind
- Two Pair
- One Pair
- High Card
Loses to
- Straight Flush
- Four of a Kind
Fresh Shoe vs Live Shoe
Every number on this page means something different depending on how much of the deck is left.
Fresh shoe
52 cards available, known full composition. Exact combinatorial hold value can be calculated.
Live shoe
Previous cards are removed. The remaining composition changes, so the best hold can change with it.
A hold that is optimal on the first hand may not remain optimal later.
What should I hold?
Enter your five cards to solve every hold option on a fresh shoe, exactly.
This solver assumes a fresh 52-card shoe unless the remaining deck is known. GWYF Poker keeps used cards out across rounds, so the best live hold can change later in the shoe.
A♠ A♥ 6♦ 9♣ Q♠
Deck State Awareness
Is this the first hand after a fresh deck?
How often the optimal hold keeps each number of cards
- Hold 0: 0.00% of solved hands
- Hold 1: 16.04% of solved hands
- Hold 2: 54.29% of solved hands
- Hold 3: 18.94% of solved hands
- Hold 4: 9.97% of solved hands
- Hold 5: 0.76% of solved hands
Average optimal gross by starting hand
| Royal Flush | 50.000× |
|---|---|
| Straight Flush | 50.000× |
| Four of a Kind | 25.000× |
| Full House | 9.000× |
| Flush | 6.000× |
| Straight | 4.000× |
| Three of a Kind | 4.302× |
| Two Pair | 2.596× |
| One Pair | 1.539× |
| High Card | 0.743× |
Exact fresh-shoe averages. A made hand like a flush or straight keeps all five cards and therefore returns its fixed multiplier.
62.83% vs 128.41%
Two exact fresh-shoe baselines that answer two different questions.
Fresh 5-card random baseline
~62.83% gross
If the final five cards are random and you make no hold decision.
62.83%
Fresh-shoe optimal hold baseline
~128.41% gross
If every hold is solved exactly on a full 52-card deck.
128.41%
The difference comes from player decisions—not from changing the paytable.
The fresh-shoe optimal hold model performs dramatically better than simply accepting random final hands. Do not read the gap as “strategy adds 65.58 points” in every live situation.
Is 128.41% the Poker RTP?
No.
It is the exact fresh-shoe optimal-hold baseline under the verified paytable and a full 52-card deck. The live deck persists across rounds, so later-hand EV depends on the remaining cards. There is no universal fixed live RTP.
1.284073…
Deck persistence & rebuild
The deck is finite. It keeps going until it is exhausted, then it is rebuilt.
- 01Fresh 52-card deck
- 02Deal 5
- 03Replace discarded cards
- 04Used cards remain out
- 05Next round continues from the remaining cards
- 06Deck exhaustion / rebuild
- 07Fresh shuffle
A reset does not put used cards back.
The deck is rebuilt when a draw is requested with no cards left, so a replacement sequence can cross into a fresh deck.
Only when DrawCardFromDeck is called while deck.Count == 0.
This is why Poker is not standard independent-hand video poker.
Poker Face
The Poker-specific challenge flips normal hold strategy on purpose.
- Floor
- 3
- Requirement
- Do not lock cards, and finish on Two Pair or better
- Reward
- 14 Tickets
Fresh-deck chance
~7.63%
7.63%
Expected fresh independent attempts
~13.1
13.1
Live state
State-dependent
On a fresh full deck, the random 5-card chance of Two Pair or better is about 7.63%.
The ~13.1 figure is a fresh-independent benchmark only. Later attempts are not independent fresh draws.
Do not lock cards. You are asked to accept a random replacement path, not to play the optimal hold.
When Poker Fits Your Run
Poker is a skill/card-state route, not a fixed repeatable one.
Strongest case
Fresh-shoe optimal model: 128.41% gross. It is a strong theoretical state.
Problem
That number decays as a universal decision rule once cards have already left the deck.
Good fit when
- you are early in a fresh deck
- you can make informed hold decisions
- you need Poker Face or Poker-specific objectives
- you understand deck state
Less attractive when
- deck state is unknown or heavily depleted
- you need a fixed repeatable route
- you want an exact static EV without tracking remaining cards
- you need simpler quota throughput
Items That Affect Profit
Some items change what you are paid. None are verified to change which cards you are dealt.
Changes final profit
- Gambler’s Confidence — additive factor on positive profit
- Verified temporary profit modifiers
Does NOT verify changing cards
These effects modify settlement/profit, not card generation.
Buffs do not make better hands more likely unless future production data shows the RNG input changed.
Floor Availability
Poker is in the Floor 3 and Floor 4 pools.
Poker appears on Floor 3 / 4.
| Floor | Poker | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Not in pool | If Poker is missing, it is not in that floor’s pool. |
| 2 | Not in pool | If Poker is missing, it is not in that floor’s pool. |
| 3 | In pool | |
| 4 | In pool |
Availability is floor-pool data, not a random spawn.
Why can’t I find Poker on Floor 2?
It is not in the Floor 2 pool. This is not bad RNG.
RNG / Reload Behavior
The verified shuffle uses seeded state, and the deck persists. Same saved state can therefore reproduce the same sequence.
Why do I get the same cards after reload?
You may be recreating the same persisted deck/shuffle state.
Does moving to another Poker table matter?
The seeded shuffle includes machine position, so for the shuffle event the table instance can be a relevant seed input.
Do not read this as “every Poker hand is deterministic forever”.
Real Poker vs GWYF Poker
| Feature | Standard Poker | GWYF |
|---|---|---|
| Texas Hold’em? | Common, but only one of many variants. | No |
| Community cards | Usually part of the game. | Not part of the verified implementation. |
| Opponent | The point of the game. | No verified opponent model. This is a 1P paytable game. |
| Royal Flush separate? | Usually its own top rank. | No. It pays as a Straight Flush. |
| Every hand fresh? | Depends on the variant and table. | No. The deck persists across rounds. |
Evidence Table
Every claim on this page carries the evidence behind it. Fresh-state exact is not a live fixed RTP.
| Claim | Evidence |
|---|---|
| 52-card deck | Verified |
| 5-card hand | Verified |
| Hold / replace | Verified |
| Deck persists across rounds | Verified |
| Bet limits | Verified packaged config |
| Paytable | Verified |
| Royal Flush separate rank | No |
| Random fresh 5-card gross | Exact fresh-state baseline |
| Optimal fresh-shoe gross 128.4073% | Exact fresh-state baseline |
| Live hand RTP | State-dependent |
| Poker Face fresh chance ~7.63% | Exact fresh-state baseline |
| ~13.1 attempts | Fresh-independent benchmark only |
| Same reload can repeat cards | Verified seeded-state behavior |
| Duplicate-card bug fixed in v1.0.30 | Official patch note |
Straight Flush 50× · 2,598,960 initial hands · 5-card hands · 1.284073
FAQ
How does Poker work in Gamble With Your Friends?
You get 5 cards, hold or replace, and the final hand settles against a fixed paytable. It is a 1P paytable game from a persistent deck.
Is GWYF Poker Texas Hold’em?
No. There are no community cards, no betting rounds and no verified opponent.
Is GWYF Poker video poker?
It behaves like draw-poker/video-poker: a 5-card hold/replace step against a paytable. The page still calls the game Poker, as the game does.
How many cards do you get?
Five, with one hold/replace step.
What cards should I hold?
On a fresh shoe, use the exact solver on this page. On a live shoe, the best hold depends on which cards are already out.
Does Poker use a fresh deck every hand?
No. The deck persists across rounds.
Do used cards return to the deck?
No. A reset does not put used cards back.
When does Poker reshuffle?
The deck is rebuilt when a draw is requested with no cards left. A replacement sequence can cross into a fresh deck.
What is the Poker hand ranking?
Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, High Card.
Does a flush beat a straight?
Yes. Flush pays 6×, Straight pays 4×.
Does a full house beat a flush?
Yes. Full House pays 9×, Flush pays 6×.
Is Royal Flush a separate hand?
No. GWYF scores it as a Straight Flush, which pays 50×.
What does One Pair pay?
1×, a push. It returns your stake rather than a profit.
What is the Poker RTP?
There is no universal fixed live RTP. The fresh-shoe optimal baseline is 128.4073% gross, and the live value is state-dependent.
Is 128.41% the real Poker RTP?
No. It is the exact fresh-shoe optimal-hold baseline under a full 52-card deck, not a live every-hand figure.
Why is the live return state-dependent?
The deck persists, so later hands are solved against whatever cards are still in it.
What is the random-hand return?
About 62.83% gross if the final 5 cards are random and you make no hold decision.
Can I use a normal video poker strategy chart?
Not reliably. Standard charts assume each hand starts from a fresh full-deck distribution, and GWYF keeps its deck.
What is the best Poker strategy?
Solve the hold on the current deck state. Early in a fresh deck the fresh-shoe solution is the right anchor.
How do I complete Poker Face?
On Floor 3, do not lock any cards and finish on Two Pair or better.
What are the odds of Poker Face?
About 7.63% on a fresh full deck, roughly 1 in 13.1 fresh independent attempts.
Why does Poker Face say not to lock cards?
The challenge requires the no-lock path. That is the opposite of playing the optimal hold.
What floors have Poker?
Floor 3 and Floor 4.
Why can’t I find Poker on Floor 2?
It is not in the Floor 2 pool. That is floor availability, not bad RNG.
Do profit buffs improve card odds?
No verified effect changes card generation. Profit buffs change settlement.
Why do I get the same cards after reload?
You may be recreating the same persisted deck/shuffle state.
Was the duplicate-card bug fixed?
Yes. v1.0.30 fixed duplicate-card behavior in 1P Poker.
Is Poker better than Slots?
Not directly comparable. Poker’s 128.41% is fresh-shoe optimal; Slots’ 115.56% is a 10M-state replay average. The evidence semantics differ.
Is Poker better than Craps?
They fail differently. Poker does not need a fair-physics assumption, but its exact value depends on deck state.