Jacks or Better is one of the most popular video poker machines available. It’s easy to play, and as an added bonus it’s one of the easiest games to use the proper strategy with.
Nov 01, 2019 It was the first video poker game ever introduced for play dating back to the mid 1970s. Nowadays some of the machines will show its original name – ”Draw Poker”, while others will label it ”Jacks or Better”. The game involves a typical deck of 52 cards, while the lowest rank for a winning hand is a Pair of Jacks. Jun 25, 2017 Demonstrating video poker expert strategy on a Jacks or better 25 cent machine. This is a casino live stream of a $20 run. We put a twenty in the machine and ran it up for a nice casino win. Overview: Our Free Jacks or Better Video Poker game obeys the standard video poker rules and is a single hand type video poker machine. It is played with a standard 52 card deck and the cards are shuffled before each hand. This version of video poker is sometimes referred to as Jacks Poker.
Keep reading to learn how to play, which pay table to look for, and to find a simple strategy chart so you can make the best play every time.
Playing Sequence
Once you put money into the machine you need to choose how many coins to bet per hand. You always bet five coins per hand so you win the bonus amount on the royal flush. Any time you bet less than five coins per hand you can’t win the bonus and this makes the house edge go up quite a bit.
Next you hit the deal button and you receive five cards. Choose which of the cards you want to hold and hit the deal button again. The cards you discard are replaced by new cards from the deck. This forms your final hand.
If you have a paying hand, consisting of a pair of jacks or better, the machine adds your win to your balance. Now you can start a new hand by hitting the deal button. Most machines remember your choice to bet five coins per hand so you don’t have to choose it every time. But verify this when you start playing.
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Jacks or Better Pay Tables
Here are many of the common pay tables available on Jacks or Better machines. The best pay table available in many online and land based casinos is the 9 / 6. It’s called a 9 / 6 because the full house pays nine and the flush pays six. If a 9 / 6 machine isn’t available where you pay we don’t recommend playing Jacks or Better.
The way you use the table below is match it with the column under one coin on the machine you’re looking at. The only exception is the royal flush. The machine won’t show 800 in the first column under royal flush, but the 800 represents the bonus for betting max coins. The royal flush should show 4,000 in the five coin column, or five times 800.
Game | 9 / 6 | 9 / 5 | 8 / 6 | 8 / 5 | 7 / 5 | 6 / 5 |
Royal Flush | 800 | 800 | 800 | 800 | 800 | 800 |
Straight Flush | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
Four of a Kind | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
Full House | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
Flush | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Straight | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Three of a Kind | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Two Pair | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Pair Jacks or Better | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
House Edge | .46% | 1.55% | 1.61% | 2.70% | 3.85% | 5.00% |
Notice how a simple change in the pay table changes the house edge. The casinos try to take advantage of players who don’t know about pay tables and players who think one number change doesn’t change the house edge much.
Jacks or Better Strategy Chart
Here’s a jacks or better strategy chart you can use any time you play. The correct way to use this chart is to start at the top and go down until you find a hand that matches yours. Then hold the listed hand and discard everything else.
Rule # 1 – Always bet five coins per hand.
- Royal flush
- Straight flush
- Four of a kind
- Four to a royal flush
- Full house
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a kind
- Four to a straight flush
- Two pair
- Pair of jacks or better
- Three to a royal flush
- Four to a flush
- Pair of 10’s or lower
- Four to an open end straight
- Three to a straight flush with at least as many cards jack and higher than gaps
- Four cards jack and higher
- Two suited cards jack and higher
- Four to an inside straight, with three cards jack or higher
- Three to a straight flush with two gaps and one card jack or higher or with one gap and no high cards
- K Q J suited
- Q J suited
- J T suited
- K Q or K J unsuited
- Q T suited
- A K or A Q or A J unsuited
- K T suited
- One card jack or higher
- Three to a straight flush with two gaps
- Draw five new cards
It might seem like the strategy chart has a great deal you need to remember. But you don’t have to memorize it. You can use t when you play Jacks or Better online or print out a copy and take it with you to the casino.
You’re going to find that once you start using your strategy chart that you’re quickly going to memorize the most common plays. If you want to start memorizing the most common plays before you get started here’s how to do it.
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3 Handy Tips for Winning Jacks or Better Poker
1 – Keep any paying hand unless you have four to a royal flush or four to a straight flush. Then keep four to the royal flush or four to a straight flush. This rule takes care of almost half of the chart.
2 – The next group includes draws to big hands, including three to a royal flush, four to a flush, a pair of low cards, an open end straight, and three to a straight flush.
3 – Most of the rest of the chart deals with high cards. As a general rule, if you have cards jack and higher, suited or unsuited, keep them and discard everything else.
These three steps don’t cover 100% of the chart, but if you use them you won’t make too many mistakes. We still recommend using the full chart, but many players want to play without worrying about small strategic adjustments.
Now you know how to play Jacks or Better video poker, the popular pay tables, and the best strategy. Always play on a 9 / 6 machine, bet five coins per hand, and use a strategy chart. When you do these things you’re doing everything you can to have the best chance to win and have a good time.
Jacks or Better
This is one of the video poker games, often recommended for novice players. It was the first video poker game ever introduced for play dating back to the mid 1970s. Nowadays some of the machines will show its original name – ”Draw Poker”, while others will label it ”Jacks or Better”. The game involves a typical deck of 52 cards, while the lowest rank for a winning hand is a Pair of Jacks.
The game is appropriate for beginners, as its playing strategies can be used in two other recommended games (Bonus Poker and Bonus Poker Deluxe). Another moment to note is that a hand as frequent as Two Pair may lead to a player receiving double the amount of money he/she bet. As this is a very reasonable return for Two Pair, it allows the player to remain in the game longer using a restrained budget.
The version of the game, providing the greatest earning opportunity, is considered to be 9/6 Jacks or Better, with its expected return (ER) being 99.54%. We shall talk about the ER in more detail at a later stage. When playing this game version, one will earn 9 coins for every coin he/she bet, if he/she holds a Full House, and 6 coins for every coin he/she bet, if he/she holds a Flush.
Bonus Poker Deluxe
This is another game, that utilizes a deck of 52 cards and has a Pair of Jacks as the lowest rank for a winning hand. Bonus Poker Deluxe, unlike Jacks of Better, offers a player a mere even money for hands as frequent as Two Pair. However, if a player holds a Four of a Kind, he/she will receive 80 times the amount of money he/she bet.
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As Four of a Kind is not a very frequent hand, in order to have a reasonable return, one needs a larger budget to play this game. Or, we can say that the expected return may be reached through a number of smart strategic moves and a long enough period of play. Shorter periods of play may result in money loss. However, many players consider that the factor of excitement is worth the higher risk.
The version of the game, providing the greatest earning opportunity, is 9/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe, with its expected return being 99.64%. When playing this game version, one will earn 9 coins for every coin he/she bet, if he/she holds a Full House, and 6 coins for every coin he/she bet, if he/she holds a Flush.
The Game of Video Poker
Jacks or Better, Bonus Poker, Deuces Wild
Double Bonus, Pick'em Poker
Ranking Hands Video Poker
Video Poker Machine Appearance
Deuces Wild
The name, in fact, refers to a number of very popular video poker games, with each one of them utilizing a deck of 52 cards. All four Deuces (Twos) represent wild cards, or a player may use any Deuce as a replacement for any card, so that he/she gets a complete winning hand. As there are four wild cards to facilitate the completion of a winning hand, in these games the lowest rank for a winning combination is Three of a Kind. Profitable play in Deuces Wild requires the selection of a good game and, of course, accuracy.
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Free Slots Jacks Or Better Video Poker
There are two appropriate gaming options one may choose between – Full-Pay Deuces Wild and Not-So-Ugly Deuces Wild. It is worth noting that such labels were given to the games by players, not by casinos or manufacturers of video poker machines. These names will not be found on machines in any casino. Deuces Wild is the casino name, that is to be seen in both cases.
Full-Pay Deuces Wild enjoys the greatest popularity among the variety of Deuces Wild games, as it provides the largest expected return (100.76%). This return comes as a result of the fact that Four of a Kind offers a larger payout compared to what it pays in other game versions. Here such a hand appears more frequently due to the four wild cards. However, it is exactly the reasonable return, which urges casinos to offer the game in nickel and quarter denominations. Another drawback is that the game is to be found only in those states, where casinos are allowed to propose returns exceeding 100%.
Full-Pay Deuces Wild is a player advantage game, or a game where the expected return exceeds 100%, which provides the player with an advantage rather than the casino. This circumstance makes the game a nice choice for novice players.
Not-So-Ugly Deuces Wild represents another good gaming option for beginners, with its expected return being 99.73%. Some experts refer to it as a 20/20 game, as a player will earn 20 coins for every 5-coin bet he/she makes, if he/she holds a Full House or Four of a Kind. This game version is offered on machines with larger denominations and is considered as legal in those states, which decree less-than-100-percent returns. These two circumstances explain why the game is easier to find than Full-Pay Deuces Wild.
At times casinos may downgrade Full-Pay Deuces Wild (they may reduce the percentage of return offered by the game). In such cases Not-So-Ugly Deuces Wild is the game to replace it.
Not-So-Ugly Deuces Wild is suitable for beginners, because, if taking into account casino promotions, it becomes a player advantage game.
Bonus Poker
The game features a deck of 52 cards, while the lowest rank for a winning combination is a pair of Jacks. This game offers a larger payout for special Four of a Kind hands. For example, a hand consisting of four Twos, or four Threes, or four Fours will pay a player 40 times the amount bet, while a hand of four Aces will pay him/her 80 times that amount.
The return for a Full House or for a Flush, however, is lower compared to that, offered by 9/6 Jacks or Better. The reason for that is the additional amount paid for particular Four of a Kind hands.
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Bonus Poker is an appropriate game for novice players, because the strategies used in Jacks or Better are also used here, while the additional amount paid for particular hands boosts the excitement as well. People, who play on a restrained budget, will also find this game suitable, because frequent hands such as a Two Pair will double the amount bet.
Jacks Or Better Poker Machine
As for the game providing the greatest earning opportunity, experts recommend 8/5 Bonus Poker, with its expected return being 99.17%. When playing this game version, one will earn 8 coins for every coin he/she bet, if he/she holds a Full House, and 5 coins for every coin he/she bet, if he/she holds a Flush.