Jacks Or Better Basic Strategy

Ever since I discovered a decommissioned Game King machine in my grandfather’s den, I’ve been fascinated by video poker. Jacks or Better, Joker Poker, Double Double Bonus, Deuces Wild… How could a single machine be home to such multitudes?

These days, I grind the Game Kings at my favorite Las Vegas casinos. But my love for the game originated in that cozy den way back when. Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate the real money video poker community, especially the slang terms coined by its diverse members.

Jacks Or Better Strategy Using this strategy should increase the return over time to around 99.45% if played correctly. Reducing the House Edge in any casino game is important and although this may not seem like much, over a long period of time, it can make a.

Full Pay Video Poker

The Rules of Jacks or Better Jacks or Better is the most well-known variant of video poker. The rules of this game are slightly different, as you’ll only get a payout if your hand includes at. Winning Strategies in Jacks or Better. Jacks or Better is a video poker variation that got its name from the lowest winning hand which is two Jacks. Undeniably, it is the best video poker game for both novice and experienced players. In order to determine the best payout, you need to examine the full house and flush payouts for every coin you bet. Basic video poker strategy, jacks or better Video poker is all about decision-making, no matter whether you play jacks or better, deuces wild or any other variation of the game. Therefore, the first thing that you have to learn is how to decide which cards of those that you have been dealt to. Betting the Maximum of 5 Coins Is the Only Way to Score Premium Payouts on a Royal.

In video poker parlance, a “full pay” game is one which offers the best possible pay table, and thus the highest possible payback percentage (more on this to come).

For example, in the foundational game known as Jacks or Better, most versions pay out nine coins for making a full house and six coins for landing a flush. The full 9/6 pay table can be found below.

Jacks or Better 9/6 Full Pay Table:

When you play Jacks or Better using this 9/6 full pay table, the game offers players who use basic strategy a 99.54% payback rate.

Thus, you’ll find 8/6 and 9/5 pay tables on Jacks or Better, which is one way casinos trick unsuspecting players. They see most of the numbers they’re used to, like the 250 coins for a royal flush and 50 coins for a straight flush, so they don’t bother thinking about why those crucial full house and flush payouts are slightly different.

But as you can see below, these modified pay tables are always worse than their full pay alternative.

Jacks or Better Pay Table Comparison:

These so-called “low pay” versions of the game are scorned by sharp video poker players, and for good reason. Sacrificing percentage points off of your payback rate only gives the house a helping hand, and the casinos don’t need any additional help if you ask me.

Gambling Payback

Now that I’ve touched on the concept of payback percentage, here’s how these essential data points really work.

With a payback rate of 99.54% on 9/6 full pay Jacks or Better, for every $100 you put into the machine, you can theoretically expect to bring back $99.54 over the long run.

*That’s a theoretical probability, mind you. In reality, you’ll be losing the full $100, winning a few hundred, hitting the jackpot, or breaking even on any given session

If you’re familiar with the term “house edge” which is used by table game players, just think of payback percentage as the inverse side of the same coin. In this case, the casino’s house edge on 9/6 Jacks or Better stands at 0.46%.

But when you slip up and put money on an 8/6 low pay machine instead, your payback rate plummets to 98.39%. Just like that, the house’s edge swells from 0.46% to 1.61%—a statistically significant increase to say the least.

Video poker players use payback percentage rates to compare the different variants found on the standard Game King machine.

Bonus Poker, for example, runs with a payback rate of 99.17% on its 8/5 full pay version. Aces and Faces climbs to 99.26% on its 8/5 full pay table, while Double Double Bonus bumps it up to 99.44% on the 10/6 full pay game.

You can even find payback rates that climb above 100%, meaning a master of basic strategy actually enjoys a slight edge over the house on every hand. Deuces Wild is the de facto favorite for edge chasers, as it provides a sweet 100.76% payback rate on the 15/9/5 full pay version.

With that said, most casinos don’t spread full pay Deuces Wild machines for that very reason, so look for the variant offering 16 coins for five of a kind, 10 coins for a straight flush, and four coins for four of a kind. This game, known as “Not So Ugly Deuces,” creates a payback rate of 99.73%—higher than full pay Jacks or Better.

Kicker (With Four of a Kind)

In certain video poker variants like Double Double Bonus, the pay table is stretched out to divide four of a kind hands according to their rank of the fifth remaining card. Better known as the “kicker,” this fifth card can mean the difference between 400 coins and 160 coins.

Here’s how kickers work in Double Double Bonus… This variant is all about four of a kind hands, so players tend to shoot for “quads” whenever the opportunity arises. Landing any quads of 5s through Kings is good for 40 coins per coin wagered, but that’s the bottom rung of the ladder.

Next up are quads in either 2s, 3s, or 4s, which doubles the payout to 80 coins per coin in. From there, four of a kind in aces ups the ante to 160 coins per coin bet.

And here’s where the kicker commotion comes into play. If you land four of a kind in aces with a 2, 3, or 4 kicker, that payout climbs to 400 coins. The same goes for a quads in 2s, 3s, or 4s with an ace, 2, 3, or 4 kicker.

Essentially, you’re looking to land certain four of a kind hands (aces, 2s, 3s, or 4s) coupled with an ace, 2, 3, or 4 kicker. When you do, you’ll earn a premium jackpot payout that actually equals that paid out on a royal flush.

Several games use the kicker conceit, so be sure to check your pay tables carefully so you know exactly which kickers to hold onto before the draw.

Pat Hand

In poker parlance, a “pat” hand is simply any hand that doesn’t require a draw to improve. For video poker players, you might see the screen light up with a 4-5-6-7-8 combination for a pat straight. Any five cards of the same suit (clubs, diamonds, hearts, or spades) is good for a pat flush.

Of course, pat hands can be broken when the situation calls for it. If you catch something like the Ace-King-Queen-Jack-10 straight (better known as “Broadway”), but four of the five cards are suited, you actually have a dilemma on your hands.

You could keep the pat straight intact and lock in the four-coin payout, or you could keep the four-card royal flush combo and hope to hit the fifth card for a 4,000-coin jackpot. Royal flushes are quite rare (as you’ll learn about below), so you’ll be sacrificing that small four-coin payout more often than not. With that said, how many four-coin giveaways will be worth it when you finally bag the elusive royal flush jackpot.

For what it’s worth, Jacks or Better basic strategy advises players to chase the royal flush every time in the scenario above.

Royal Cycle

You know royal flushes are rare in a five-card draw game like Jacks or Better. But just how rare are they?

Well, to score a pat royal on the initial draw involves odds of 1 in 649,740, making it an extreme long shot. But when you factor in the holding round, video poker drawing odds make your chances of running into a royal flush at 1 in 40,391 hands.

This 40k-hand interval is known as the “royal cycle,” because players can expect to cycle through that many random hands before finally breaking through.

Gain Control by Playing Casino Video Poker

Learning to play video poker is one of the only ways in the house where players have a semblance of control over the action. Sure, those first five cards come your way completely at random. But from there, you get to decide which ones to hold and which to fold.

This ability to apply skill and strategy is what makes video poker classics like Jacks or Better such a favorable game. But for my money, it’s the slang tossed back and forth between video poker aficionados that makes the game so special.

Video poker is the second most popular game in casinos behind slot machines. It hit the casino floor in the late 1970’s and by 1980, video poker was available in all Nevada and Atlantic City casinos. The first video poker game was called Draw Poker. That game is known as Jacks or Better today. The title changed as video poker grew in popularity and more games evolved in the 80’s and 90’s.

While Jacks or Better was the first video poker game, its popularity has diminished over the years. It does not offer the high variance most other video poker games offer. For that same reason, Jacks or Better is more popular among Las Vegas locals and savvy tourists, as long as the pay table is reasonable. You can practice for free below, or read on to learn more about how to play Jacks or Better.

How to Find the Best Jacks or Better Video Poker Machine

The best Jacks or Better game has the following pay table:

– Royal Flush: 800 (250 is fewer than five coins wagered)
– Straight Flush: 50
– Four of a Kind: 25
– Full House: 9
– Flush: 6
– Straight: 4
– Three of a Kind: 3
– Two Pair: 2
– Pair of Jacks or Better: 1

This game may not be available at all casinos. This is especially true at casinos that have geographical monopolies or are on the Las Vegas Strip. If 9/6 Jacks or Better is not available, the next best pay table is one that pays eight on a full house while still awarding six on a flush. The next best is nine on a full house but only five on a flush. Anything lower than those pay tables is unplayable.

There are some casinos that make it appear that the game is full pay but when you look closer, the game is not. The difference is that some gaming establishments will spread the full-pay table but require 10 or more coins for the 800-coin royal flush. This is common on nickel machines but also at convenience casinos like Dotty’s in Nevada where 100 coins are required for an 800-1 royal flush on Game King machines.

How to Increase Your Return on Jacks or Better

Jacks Or Better Strategy Chart

One way to increase your return at Jacks or Better video poker is to only play the 9/6 version described above. That is easy on the Internet as most casino websites offer this version. In a casino, it is not as common.

Basic Strategy Video Poker Jacks Or Better

In Las Vegas, the best places to find this game are downtown at Plaza, Main Street Station, Fremont and El Cortez. Locals casinos like Red Rock Resort, Green Valley Ranch, Sunset Station, Palace Station, Santa Fe Station, South Point, Westgate and many other off-strip properties. Some Strip resorts offer this game at $5 and higher denominations. Treasure Island has it at $.50 and higher.

Using A Casino Players Card

Using a players card will also add to the return of Jacks or Better video poker. This is automatic at online casinos. At live casinos, a player must go to the rewards center and give a photo ID if they do not already have a card. A players card is issued and must be inserted into the card reader on the machine. This will keep track of the amount wagered by the player.

The instant return when using a players card is between 0.05% and 0.3%, depending on the casino’s reward program. This is often issued in comps but some locals casinos in Las Vegas and regional markets will allow players to convert it to free play or straight cash.

The best benefits when using a players card usually come after you leave. Casinos will mail offers in an attempt to lure you back. This comes in the form of free play, hotel rooms or food comps. It is based on previous play but is often more generous after the first visit when using a players card. The free play may be taken directly from a slot or video poker machine at casinos that have a modern loyalty program.

Jacks or Better Basic Strategy

Finding the best pay table and using a players card only get you so far if you do not play the game properly. Every mistake lowers the Jacks or Better video poker return.

This list shows what a player should look for before discarding. Keep the cards or dealt hands listed and discard the others. The exception is when four of a kind is dealt. The kicker does not matter in Jacks or Better. It is better to hold the odd card than risk making an error on the draw. The list goes from top to bottom in terms of the hand that should be held.

– Keep all cards on a royal flush, straight flush and four of a kind
– Draw one when you have four to a royal flush, unless a straight flush was dealt
– Keep all cards on a full house, flush or 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 2’s through 10’s
– Four to an open ended straight, meaning four connected cards five or higher
– AKQJ off-suit
– Two suited cards jack or higher
– 9JQK off-suit
– Three to a straight flush
– Two off-suit cards jack or higher. Keep the lowest two if three are dealt as this will draw more straights.
– Suited 10 with a jack, queen or king
– Singleton jack or higher
– Discard everything

Common Mistakes at Jacks or Better

The most common mistakes made when playing Jacks or Better often comes from players who are not aware of the basic strategy. The single biggest one is going for inside straights that are not ace or king-high. The entire hand should be discarded in this scenario.

Some players will hold four to a flush over three to a royal flush. This is the correct play if the number of coins wagered is not enough to trigger the 800-1 royal flush payout. Otherwise, toss the flush card nine or lower and go for the three to the royal flush.

Jacks Or Better Optimal Strategy

Some players make the mistake of going for a low pair over a four-card flush. The flush draw is the better play. On the other hand, a low pair should be kept over any straight draw.

Jacks Or Better Strategy