Aces and Eights is a video poker variant, which isn't any more complicated to play than any of the other popular variants like Deuces Wild and Jacks or Better. All players have to do is to choose a coin denomination to begin. Video poker machines accept coins from $0.05 all the way to $5. The bigger coins one play, the bigger his payouts will be of course. Players can also bet up to 5 coins on every hand, so the maximum bet on a single hand can be as high as $25.

The action gets going once the 'deal' button is pressed. The machine gives the player 5 cards, of which he can choose to hold one to five. The rest of the cards are then replaced and the player's final hand is made.

Everything better than a pair of 10s (Js or better) is rewarded with a payout.

Aces and Eights is one of the video poker variants which can potentially offer the player some pretty outstanding odds. In order to maximize one's odds though, players need to pick the best possible pay table and they need to learn and stick to optimal Aces and Eights strategy. There are 5 basic Aces and Eights pay tables, and while they look remarkably similar at first glance, they do in fact offer slightly different payout percentages. The worst pay-table offers 97.49% payout rate, which isn't bad, but when there's another one which offers 99.78%, the choice is a no-brainer really. The best pay-tables offer 8-1 on a Full house and 25-1 on quads and this is where most of the differences are made.

Aces and Eights strategy isn't exactly rocket science. Players simply have to memorize a few hand selections and the course of action that these require according to optimal strategy. If someone lands a Straight, Flush, Full house, Straight flush or Royal flush from the get-go, he should obviously hold all his cards. If he picks up 4-card draws to the above said hands or a two pair, or a four of a kind, it is recommended that he exchange one card. 3-card draws to some of the above said hands and three of a kinds call for 2 cards to be replaced.

Two high cards, two cards to a royal flush and a pair call for 3 cards to be replaced, while in the case of a single high card, 4 cards have to be replaced. In all other cases, all 5 cards should be replaced.

Given the simplicity of the optimal strategy, Aces and Eights can't exactly be called a game of skill. Those who go through the minimal trouble of reading up on the game a bit will be able to play it optimally without any kind of problems. Unfortunately, Aces and Eights is not one of the video poker variants in which optimal strategy can defeat the house edge. While with a right pay-table and with optimal strategy, the house edge can indeed be radically reduced, it cannot really ever be overturned.