The objective of Jacks or Better is to create a winning poker hand by selecting the best cards. You are dealt five cards on the initial deal and may pick as many as you wish to hold, before the others are replaced to show your final hand. Your wins can also be doubled in the exclusive Double Up Round! Join Waitlist We will inform you when the product arrives in stock. Please leave your valid email address below.

Video poker is one of the most successful and popular games ever invented. After 30 years, the original Jacks or Better variety is still a favorite, probably because the house edge is less than half of a percent! Video poker came about in the 1970s when Si Redd’s little company in Sparks, Nevada, introduced Draw Poker. The original game was slow and clunky, but as technology grew, so did SIRCOMA, and his company became today’s International Game Technology. Much of the company’s early success was due to video poker’s popularity.

Also, some video poker games are linked together and offer a progressive jackpot. A 25-cent machine pays $1,000 for a royal flush, but in the 1980s, with many machines linked together in bars and other locations, jackpots often rose to more than $2500. Popularity was sky-high. Over time, new variations of video poker like Joker Poker, Deuces Wild, and Double Bonus were introduced. Triple Play came along later with a player option to play three simultaneous hands on the same machine.

Jacks And Better Strategy

Through all the changes and competition, Jacks or Better has remained the original and most popular game. And there are good reasons for the player loyalty. To begin with, it’s a game that can offer a return of 99.5% to the player. That’s terrific. To get that pay-off, you’ll have to follow the optimal strategy I’ll show you later. Another advantage of Jacks or Better is that it offers lower volatility in payoffs than other video poker games. That makes a difference in your cash flow or bankroll. Games with other high payoffs like Deuces Wild and Double Double Bonus have sneaky ways of making those payoffs.

Video poker is based on the poker game of five-card draw, but it is unlike the card game, where there is a pot to strive for, and the best hand wins. In video poker, a player makes a wager, usually five coins, and is dealt five cards. They may hold any or all cards or discard as many as five cards and draw new ones. To win, the player must make a final hand of at least a pair of jacks. Payoffs are shown at the top of the video screen and following this introduction.

Any hand with three of a kind pays 3 for 1, regardless of whether you start with that hand or draw cards to make the final combination. A straight is any five cards in sequence, such as A-2-3-4-5 or 7-8-9-10-J. They can be of any mixed suit, and the payoff is 4 for 1. A hand such as 3-4-5-6 is called an open-ended straight since you can make your hand by catching a card on either end with a 2 or a 7.

A gut-shot or close-ended straight draw is a starting hand like 5-6-7-9. To make the straight, you’ll need to catch an 8. A flush is any five final cards of the same suit, such as 3-6-8-9-Q of clubs. Making a flush pays 6 for 1. The next-best hand is a full house. You’ll be paid 9 for 1 when you get three of a kind and a pair, such as 2-2-7-7-7. If you make a hand like 2-7-7-7-7, you’ll have quads. You’ll get paid 25 for 1 when you make four of a kind.

It doesn’t matter what the order of the cards is on a video poker screen. You’ll be paid the same, even if they are mixed up. However, occasionally you’ll find a casino that offers a bonus for a sequential royal flush. The payoff for a sequential royal flush is usually 10,000 for 1. I’ve seen super jackpots or 10k on machines at the Palazzo in Las Vegas, the Atlantis in Reno, and in the past at online sites like Bovada and Jackpot City. You may have to search around, but the added payoff sounds fun.

What you can expect for payout hands on a Jacks or Better 9/6 video poker machine:

This payoff table shows all the possible combinations of video poker. The table is based on 9/6 payout, meaning that you receive 9 coins back for each wagered on a full house and six coins back for each wagered on a flush. You’ll hit two pairs a huge amount of the time. And your payout for that hand will be nearly 26% of your total returned while playing. That helps reduce variance, as you will get a small winning amount back quite often, as compared to getting just even money on two pairs at other games.

Station Casinos has this pay table at many of their casinos, including Palms, Red Rock, Boulder Station, Palace Station, Sunset Station, Texas Station, and Santa Fe Station. They are out there! Keep in mind that although the game has a great payback, your “luck” will have a lot to do with your results. That doesn’t mean varying from the best strategy; it means that when you are playing any gambling game, especially one that has a high payoff jackpot like video poker at 4,000 coins, it can be a long time between big hits.

If you look back at the payback table, you’ll see that the amount you receive over hours and hours of play is dictated greatly by the pair and two-pair hands. And while the royal flush is only about 2% of your total return, it will be your savior and catch you up for a lot of losses along the way. That’s what creates a variance, so you will still have times when you seem to be running bad because you can’t make any decent payoffs.

My first piece of advice is to always look for the best pay tables. When you play Jacks or Better, you’ll find plenty of machines, from IGT Game King to Bally Game Maker, and other suppliers. But what you’ll find most of the time is a payoff that is lower than 9/6. That wouldn’t keep me from playing, but I’d play more often with the best odds, wouldn’t you? Most of these odds are better than playing a game like roulette or Three Card Poker, so video poker isn’t bad. Just keep in mind that you’ll get a lot more hands at the slots and video poker than at a table game.

In fact, you can play quickly and get as many as 300 hands per hour at video poker. Because of this, the game can be as expensive to play per hour as games like roulette with a slower pace and a higher house edge.

9/5 Jacks or Better

In this game, the payoff for a flush is reduced from 6 to 5. The reduction results in a maximum payout to the player of 98.45%.

8/6 Jacks or Better

At 8/6 Jacks or Better, the payoff for a full house is reduced from 9 to 8. That takes the maximum payout to the player down to 98.39%.

8/5 Jacks or Better

This game reduces both the full house and the flush payoff. You’ll get 8 for a full house and just 5 for a flush. Your maximum payout then becomes 97.30%.

7/5 Jacks or Better

At 7/5 Jacks or Better, a full house pays 7 credits, and a flush pays 5 credits per coin wagered. The maximum payout to the player falls to 96.15%.

6/5 Jacks or Better

The 6/5 Jacks or Better payout is found in many casinos these days. It is even found at many online casinos where I think the payouts should be much higher. The maximum payout to players with this configuration is 95%.

Personally, I try to avoid both the 7/5 and 6/5 Jacks or Better games. I will play these games when they are attached to a progressive jackpot, which increases my percentage payback over the long term. The higher the jackpot, the better the payback. And the more likely I’ll vary my strategy to hit that royal flush. My second piece of advice is always to play the maximum number of coins it takes to hit either the 4,000-coin payoff for a royal flush or the maximum number of coins it takes to hit a progressive jackpot.

Also, that royal flush payoff is only 2% of the overall payoff a machine makes, but you’ll need it to keep your payback percentage high. If you don’t, you can expect to take that 2% off the overall payback. That’s on you.

There is a very good, easy strategy you can use in video poker in the beginner’s guide to video poker. However, if you want to get serious and follow the optimal strategy, it is listed below. Regardless of which strategy you follow, keep in mind that even full-pay Jacks or Better video poker machines hold a lot higher percentage than the .5% the optimal strategy offers. Why is that?

The answer lies again in the murky world of variance and what gamblers believe about luck and skill. Well, that and the fact that most players don’t play anywhere near the best they can. Bad play is costly. That’s the bottom line. Play on hunches, and you can expect Jacks or Better video poker to return about 92% to you. Play less than maximum coins, and the house edge comes closer to 10%. It’s fun, but winning is much better!

Here are a few examples where players make mistakes. The first has to do with a low pair below Jacks and a straight draw.

A Low Pair and a Straight Draw

Suppose you are dealt 4-4-5-6-7. Your pair of threes won’t pay a dime if you don’t improve, and you’ve got an open-ended straight draw. What should you do? According to our optimal strategy, a non-paying low pair (twos through tens) has a higher overall return than an open-ended straight. How can that be, you might ask?

The answer lies in the fact that while the straight will pay 4 coins (20 total) when it hits, you’ll only draw the card you need eight times out of the remaining 47 unseen cards. On the other hand, if you dump the 5-6-7 and draw to your pair of fours, you’ll make two pairs quite often. And you’ll be able to make trips, a full house, and the occasional four of a kind. When all those possible hands are averaged out, the correct decision of keeping the small pair will pay you almost 25% more than drawing at the straight.

This example is shown below by comparing #16, the low pair, to #21, the straight draw.

A Low Pair and a Flush Draw

Now suppose you are dealt that same pair of fours with a four-card flush draw. Now, what’s the best strategy? To start with, a flush pays better than a straight, 6 coins to just 4. Plus, you’ll make a flush more often in the 47 tries outlined above. Instead of making your hand eight times, you’ll make it nine times.

With those improved odds and payoffs, you’ll want to keep the flush draw and toss those measly fours. Check the list below, and you’ll see the flush draw is listed higher, at #14, compared to the low pair at #16.

Guaranteed Payoff Versus a Big Draw

Sometimes the payoff is more dramatic than making a straight. Suppose you get a guaranteed winner in the form of a pair of jacks. However, your total hand is the jack of hearts with a ten, jack, queen, and king of spades. Now you’ve got a four-card draw at a royal flush. Should you toss the guaranteed payoff of the pair of jacks or toss the jack of hearts and go for the big payoff?

If you have three cards to a royal flush with a high pair, you should go ahead and draw three to the pair. On the other hand, if you have a low pair and a royal flush draw, toss the little pair and draw to the big bucks. If these examples make sense to you, the optimal strategy shown below will too. You will always draw to the biggest hand possible from the highest listed hand on the list.

What the strategy above insists is that you see what you are dealt, find the highest part of it on the list, and play from there. In other words, if all you have is five unsuited, unconnected low cards, you discard them all and draw five new cards. The next-worst starting hand is three cards to a straight flush with two gaps (a double gut shot) and no high cards. That would be something like 2-4-6 of diamonds with an 8 and a 9. It’s not much better than a single high card and no straight or flush draw.

The final note is that although you might not be able to find the perfect 9/6 machine, you can always enhance your return by joining the casino players club. Most large casinos in the US and Canada offer complimentary rooms, food, and beverages for players. In Las Vegas, most casinos comp at 1 point per $1 in action. 1,000 points equals $10. If you are playing 25-cent video poker, your comp total for an hour of play with 300 hands played will be about $3.75. If you find a good 9/6 Jacks or Better video poker machine with the standard 99.5% payback, you’ll get more than 100% payback with your comps. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Play Jacks or Better Video Poker

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How to play Jacks or Better Video Poker

Jacks or Better is one of the easiest variations of the five-card draw Poker. Those players who have already played the game of Poker will find the game very easy. And for those who are new to the world of Poker, Jacks or Better is the best introduction to video poker games on the web.

Objective:

The key motive of the player in the game of Jacks or Better is to get a winning hand which is either a pair of jacks or better by holding the best possible cards in the hand.

Bet:

Begin by settling down your bet first. You can customize the size of your wager by pressing the up and down arrows on the extreme left side of the screen. You can set your bet in the denominations of $0.05, $0.25, $0.50, $1.00 and $5.00. Click on the $5, $25 and $100 chips to credit your account on the Jacks or Better. Then click on the ‘Bet One’ tab to place your wager. You can place multiple bets per hand by pressing the ‘Bet One’ tab multiple times or press the ‘Bet Max’ tab to bet five coins in one go. You can place the maximum bet of worth five coins and the minimum of one coin per hand.

Once you have placed your bet, hit the ‘Draw Deal’ button to draw a set of five up cards. Click on the cards you wish to hold and then press the ‘Draw Deal’ button once again to replace the discarded cards (the one you didn’t hold) with other cards.

Card Ranks:

The cards in the game of Jacks or Better Video Poker are ranked based on the standard sequence of the cards i.e.: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2.

Poker Hands:

The hand ranking in Jacks or Better is the same as the standard game of poker. The only exception is that the lowest hand is a pair of jacks or better that justifies the name of this game. The table mentioned below shows the different poker hands along with the description of each hand:

Payouts:

Every hand in Jacks or Better gets you a different return based on the number of coins you bet with. The payouts increase as you raise your betting limit. The payout table stated below shows the various payoffs in the game:

Double or Nothing Bonus Round:

Double or nothing is a bonus feature which is triggered whenever you get a winning hand. Click ‘NO‘ if you are content with the stipulated payout of the winning hand. Click ‘YES‘ if you wish to double your winnings by playing on this bonus game. You are then dealt with four cards face down along with the dealer’s up card. Out of your four hole cards you need to select a card which is higher than the dealer’s up card.

To illustrate: If you win a hand of jacks or better, the double or nothing bonus feature is triggered and if you click on ‘YES‘ your jacks or better win is doubled.

If the dealer’s up card is 10 and you pick up a Jack, you’ll win the double of the jacks or better win.

If the dealer’s up card is K and you get a Q, you’ll lose all your winnings.

If the dealer’s up card is 7 and you also get a 7, it will result into a tie and you’ll get half of the total bonus win.

If you click on ‘NO‘ after playing one or more bonus games, you’ll be paid half of the total bonus win.

Multi-Hand Games:

In the game of Jacks or Better, you can play with multiple hands as well. You can play with 3, 10, 52 or 100 hands at a time. In the multiple-hand of Jacks or Better, you can place your bets in the denominations of $0.01, $0.05, $0.25, $0.50 and $1.00 per hand. The payout table on the extreme left side of the screen displays the payoffs attached to the various winning hands. The table features the prefixed limit per hand which is further multiplied by the number of hands that you win.

To illustrate: If you win five straight hands in the 100 hands of the Jack or Better, you’ll win 20 (5 x 4 = 20) coins. Likewise, if you get three hands of jacks or better, you’ll win 3 (3 X 1 = 3) coins.

You can double your winnings by playing on the double or nothing bonus feature in the multi-hand game of Jacks or Better.

Screen:

Jacks And Better

Whenever you play on the 3, 10, 52 or 100 hands of Jacks or Better, the screen features the multiple hands with all the cards facedown. After placing the multiple bets per hand, you’ll be dealt with five up cards. The cards in the rest of the hands are face down. Click on the particular cards you wish to hold from among the five up cards. Whatever cards you hold will also be revealed in the rest of the hands in the game as well. Then press the draw button to draw all the rest of the cards.

Advantages:

The multi-hand game of Jacks and Better offers massive odds of winning in the game. If you are playing on the 100 hand game of Jacks or Better, your chances to get at least two or more higher winning hands are more than in the single hand of video poker Jacks or Better.

Disadvantages:

There is only one disadvantage of playing with the multi-hand game of Jacks or Better. Your win is always less than what you bet on all the hands in the game unless you get the high hands like royal flush or straight flush or you play on the double or nothing bonus round to get the doubles of your winnings.

Speed Deal Option:

Clicking on the Speed Dial option of Jacks or Better will deal the cards on a much rapid pace than the normal dealing of the cards. The speed dial option works only under the multi-hand variations of this game.

Jacks or Better Video Poker Strategy

Jacks or Better is the basic game on which most games of Video Poker are based. There are 52 cards and no wild card in this game. A pair of Jacks will fetch an even money win in this game. To win the highest payout, you need to play with the ‘Bet Max’ tab. Though there is no specific strategy that can bring a win for sure, some key strategies discussed in this write up will definitely help you to stand a better chance to win.

Hold Good Cards Before Redrawing: While drawing your cards, first of all you have to see whether it holds a payout. If you are lucky enough to get a Poker hand of Two Pair, Three of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Four of a Kind, Royal Flush or Straight Flush. Hold these cards to get the corresponding payouts.

If you Get a winning pair keep the two cards and trade the other three: You have to hold when there is a Pay Pair. They are two Aces, Kings, Queens, or Jacks. However, if your hand contains another pair you have to opt for two pair or better. After a redraw of cards, Pay Pairs may lead to profitable payout.

Try to Improve your Non–Paying Pair: Non-Paying pairs are the pairs from 2 to 10. They may be already in a pair but may not hold a payout due to the lesser rank than a pair of Jacks. However, if you draw a better hand like two-pair or three-of-a-kind, then your hand will qualify for a payout.

Hold the High Pay Cards: Pay cards are any Ace, King, Queen or Jack. They are named as high cards because pairing any of these into a winning hand is a probability. Pay card hands occur when you hold two or more pay cards that are not paired already.

Play for the Royal Flush: Royal Flush is the highest payout combination in the game of Jacks or Better. If you get four cards close to Royal flush and need another winning hand, then you have to hold and play for the Royal Flush.

Hold the Highest Card: If you do not have winning hands and no winning pairs, hold the highest card particularly if it is a Jack. By keeping that one Jack you may get a second Jack and go on to win. The highest card can even be a King or as low as a five that can combine with another two of a kind and get a win for you as Three of a Kind is also a winning poker hand.

Tips

Among all the variations of Poker, Jacks or Better is the easiest to master. Following certain simple steps can help you hone your Poker skills.

Free Casino game:

Before you begin playing video poker for real, you should try CoolCat casino games section and take some time for some sincere practice on the free Jacks or Better Video Poker is certainly the right choice. What can be better than getting a practical demo of all the major rules of the game without putting in a single penny? Plus, a steady practise on the free casino game of the Jacks or Better will also help you master the game.

Holding the cards:

Holding the right cards is certainly the best strategy that you can get to magnify your odds of reaching the higher hands in the game of Jacks or Better Poker. This can be better explained through an example, for instance if you get a Q and a J of the same suit and a K of the different suit, hold Q-J-K. If you draw a 10 and an Ace in the next deal you can get a Royal Flush which is the biggest hand in the game. And even if you don’t get a 10 or an Ace in your next deal, you’ll still have the Jacks or Better if your get a Q-Q, K-K or J-J.

Play with higher limits:

Jacks Or Better Free Casino

Make sure you bet with higher limits in the game. Like if you are close to Royal Flush and you have bet with just one coin, you’ll repent for missing out on the biggest reward of 4000 coins by just four more coins.

History of Jacks or Better Video Poker

The origin of Jacks or Better is quite controversial as there is no specific origin of the game to be traced. The earliest reference came from JH Green who referred to Jacks or Better as the more legitimate game in comparison to the game called ‘Three Card Monte’ which was referred to as the cheating game.

Jacks or Better is a version of video poker that can be somehow related to the slot games you can find at CoolCat Casino. Jacks and Better has taken its name from one of the most common hands of Poker where you win a stipulated payout when you get a pair of the same rank which is either Jack or Better. The interface on the Jacks or Better is the same as in all the Real Time Gaming video poker machines. The typical sound of the cards being laid down and the tinkling of the coins give a natural touch to the game of Jacks or Better.

What Does Jacks Or Better Mean

Glossary

Bet: Bet is the total number of coins that you wager per deal.

Betting Limits: It is the highest and the lowest value of wagering in the game. In the game of Jacks or Better, the player can wager with highest betting limit of $5 and the lowest of $1.

Jacks Or Better Poker

Coin Size: Coin size is a measuring unit for the value of the coins that you use to play the game. For example, if you are playing in the denomination of $1, your coin size is $1. In the single hand game of Jacks or Better, you can play with the coins in the denominations of $0.05, $0.25, $0.50, $1.00 to $5.00. However, in the multi-hand games the denomination ranges from $0.01 to $1.00.

Chips: Chips are the different values of the coins that you can use in the lieu of money to play the game. In the game of Jacks or Better you can credit your account with the chips of worth $5, $25 and $100.

Bet Max.: Bet max is the highest betting limit that a player can wager with on every hand. In Jacks or Better, the player can bet maximum up to five coins per deal.

Deal: To draw the cards during a hand is known as dealing the cards. In a single hand of the Jacks or Better you can draw five cards face up.

Deal All: Deal all allows you to deal all the cards in one go.

Hand: A hand is the combination of different cards in the game. There are total five cards in one hand of Jacks or Better.

Hole Card: The facedown card in the game is known as the Hole Card.

Up Card: The face up card in the game is known as the Up Card.

Hand Ranks: Hand Ranks are the various high and low winning hands in the game that give different payouts. There are total nine hand ranks in the game of Jacks or Better.

High Hand: High hand is the best card in the game of poker. The highest hand in the Jacks or better is the Royal Flush.