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Jacks or Better Video Poker Guide
Jacks or Better video poker is very popular in casinos, and for a good reason. The house edge can be less than 1% for optimal play. Learn the strategy here.
Slot cabinets in a row, reels and buttons litPhoto: FolsomNatural · CC BY 2.0
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Video Poker is one of the most successful and popular games ever invented. After 30 years, the original Jacks or Better variant is still a favorite, probably because the house edge is less than half a percent! Video poker was born in the 1970s when Si Redd's small 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 the popularity of video poker.
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, when many machines were linked together in bars and other locations, jackpots often rose to more than $2,500. Popularity was sky-high. Over time, new variations of video poker were introduced such as Joker Poker, Deuces Wild, and Double Bonus. Later came Triple Play, which allowed players to play three simultaneous hands on the same machine.
Through all the changes and competition, Jacks or Better has remained the original and most popular game. And there are good reasons for player loyalty. For starters, it's a game that offers a 99.5% return to the player. That's fantastic. To get that return, you need to follow the optimal strategy that I'll show you later. Another advantage of Jacks or Better is that it offers less volatility in payouts than other video poker games. This will make a difference in your cash flow or bankroll. Games with other high payouts, such as Deuces Wild and Double Double Bonus, have sneaky ways of making those payouts.
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How to Play Jacks or Better Video Poker
Video poker is based on the five-card draw poker game, but unlike the card game, there is a pot to win and the best hand wins. In Video Poker, a player places a bet, usually five coins, and is dealt five cards. They can keep any or all of their cards, or discard up to five cards and draw new ones. To win, the player must complete a hand with at least one pair of Jacks. Payouts are displayed at the top of the video screen and following this introduction.
If you bet five coins and make a high pair (jacks or better), you’ll get five coins back. Not exactly a win, but it’s better than nothing. The hands listed are the same as in a standard poker game with a deck of 52 cards and no jokers. Two pair pays 2 for 1 and is designated by any two pairs, such as K-K-8-4-4. If you are dealt that hand, you would hold the K-K-4-4 and discard the 8, trying to improve to a full house.
Any hand with three of a kind pays 3 to 1, 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 pay 4 to 1. A hand like 3-4-5-6 is called an open-ended straight because you can make your hand by catching a card at either end with a 2 or a 7.
A gut-shot or close-ended straight draw is a starting hand such as 5-6-7-9. To make the straight, you must catch an 8. A flush is any five cards of the same suit, such as 3-6-8-9-Q of clubs. Making a flush pays 6 to 1. The next best hand is a full house. It pays 9 to 1 if you have 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've got four of a kind. Making four of a kind pays 25 to 1.
The next biggest payout is for a straight flush. To win the 50 for 1 payoff, you’ll need to make a straight and a flush at the same time! That means your hand will have to be similar to 2-3-4-5-6 in a single suit. The biggest payout in video poker is for a royal flush, which is also the highest straight flush. You’ll only win the 4,000-coin payoff when you hold A-K-Q-J-10, all in a single suit.
It doesn't matter what order the cards are in on a video poker screen. You'll get paid the same even if they're mixed up. Occasionally, however, you'll find a casino that offers a bonus for a sequential royal flush. The payout for a consecutive royal flush is usually 10,000 to 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 look around, but the extra payout sounds like fun.
What you can expect for payout hands on a Jacks or Better 9/6 video poker machine:
Hand
Payoff
Combination
Probability
Return
Royal Flush
800
41,126,022
0.000025
1.9807%
Straight Flush
50
181,573,608
0.000109
0.5465%
Four of a Kind
25
3,924,430,647
0.002363
5.9064%
Full House
9
19,122,956,883
0.011512
10.3610%
Flush
6
18,296,232,180
0.011015
6.6087%
Straight
4
18,653,130,482
0.011229
4.4918%
Three of a Kind
3
123,666,922,527
0.074449
22.3346%
Two Pair
2
214,745,513,679
0.129279
25.8558%
Jacks or Better
1
356,447,740,914
0.214585
21.4585%
All Other
0
906,022,916,158
0.545435
0.0000%
Total
1,661,102,543,100
1.000000
99.5439%
This payoff table shows all possible Video Poker combinations. The table is based on a 9/6 payout, meaning that you get 9 coins back for every coin you bet on a Full House and 6 coins back for every coin you bet on a Flush. You're going to hit two pair a lot of the time. And your payout for this hand will be nearly 26% of your total winnings during the game. This helps to reduce variance because you are getting a small amount of money back quite often, compared to getting even money on two pairs in other games.
This full-pay table is treasured by players. Because gaming jurisdictions usually only require an 80% payback on video and slot machines, it may be hard to find. So, note it in your gaming journal, a pack of smokes, or store it somewhere in the back of your mind so that you can return to the good life from time to time. Online, I’ve found this full-pay game at some Playtech sites, as well as some that use Microgaming software. In Las Vegas, it’s hard to find on the Strip, but there are games at other places in the city.
Station Casinos offers this paytable 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. This doesn't mean that you should deviate from the best strategy; it just means that when you play any gambling game, especially one with a high payout jackpot like 4,000 coin Video Poker, it can go a long time between big hits.
If you look at the payback table, you'll see that the amount of money you make over hours and hours of play is largely determined by pair and two pair hands. And while the Royal Flush only accounts for about 2% of your total return, it will be your savior and will make up for a lot of losses along the way. This creates variance, so there will still be times when you seem to be doing poorly because you can't make decent payoffs.
Gambling is a funny animal. I have friends who played video poker for a living when progressive jackpots were more plentiful, and one year, a single player hit 55 royal flushes, while most of us hit only a couple dozen. Did he have a trick? You could call it good luck, which it was, but it all comes down to variance. Over the next few years of play, I’m sure his results came back closer to the norm. That’s gaming.
A double-zero wheel and a stack of chips on the layoutPhoto: Maximo Betman · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Best Video Poker Advice
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 others. But what you'll find most of the time is a payout lower than 9/6. That wouldn't stop 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're going to get a lot more hands at slots and video poker than you would at a table game.
In fact, you can play fast 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 payout 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
In 8/6 Jacks or Better, the payout for a full house is reduced from 9 to 8. This reduces the maximum payout to the player to 98.39%.
8/5 Jacks or Better
This game reduces both the full house and flush payouts. You get 8 for a full house and only 5 for a flush. Your maximum payout is 97.30%.
7/5 Jacks or Better
In 7/5 Jacks or Better, a full house pays 7 credits and a flush pays 5 credits per coin bet. The maximum payout to the player drops 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 in 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 if they have a progressive jackpot attached to them, which will increase my payback percentage in the long run. The bigger the jackpot, the better the payback. And the more likely I am to vary my strategy to hit that royal flush. My second piece of advice is to always play the maximum number of coins it takes to hit either the 4,000 coin payout for a Royal Flush or the maximum number of coins it takes to hit a Progressive Jackpot.
Now, you have to take that with a grain of salt. Some machines allow as many as 100 credits per hand. If you are playing a penny machine, perhaps that fits your budget. If you are on a 25-cent machine, that would be $25 per hand. Yikes. Play what you can afford, not what looks best! I only mention the maximum credits because if you are playing a progressive, it might take more than five. It’s your call.
Also, the royal flush payout is only 2% of the total payout a machine makes, but you need it to keep your payout percentage high. If you don't, you can expect to take that 2% off the total payout. That's on you.
Optimal Jacks or Better Strategy
There is a very good, simple 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 pay a much higher percentage than the .5% offered by the optimal strategy. Why is that?
Again, the answer lies in the murky world of variance and what players believe about luck and skill. Well, that and the fact that most players don't play nearly as well as 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%. Play less than the maximum coins, and the house edge is closer to 10%. That's fun, but winning is even better!
Here are a couple of 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 you a dime unless you improve, and you have 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 is that possible, you may ask?
The answer lies in the fact that while the straight pays 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 discard 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 of these possible hands are averaged out, the correct decision to hold the small pair will pay you almost 25% more than drawing 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 the same pair of fours with a four card flush draw. What's the best strategy? For starters, a flush pays better than a straight, 6 coins to only 4. Also, you'll make a flush more often in the 47 attempts outlined above. Instead of making your hand eight times, you'll make it nine times.
With these improved odds and payoffs, you'll want to keep the flush draw and throw away those measly fours. Check out the list below and you'll see that 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 are dealt 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 have a four card draw with a royal flush. Should you discard the guaranteed payoff of the pair of Jacks or discard the Jack of Hearts and go for the big payoff?
In this case, you’ll want to draw to the royal flush and the 4,000-coin payoff. Along the way, you’ll have a chance to make a straight flush if you catch a nine of spades, a flush if you catch any other flush, and a straight if you catch a different nine or a non-spade ace. You’ll also get paid if you pair your jack, king, or queen. With all those payoffs, it is always best to toss a high pair when you have a one-card draw at a royal flush.
If you have three cards to a royal flush with a big 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, you should toss the small pair and draw to the big pair. If these examples make sense to you, then the optimal strategy shown below will make sense to you as well. You will always draw for the biggest possible hand from the highest ranked hand on the list.
Rank
Combination
1
Royal flush
2
Straight flush
3
4 of a kind
4
4 cards to royal flush
5
Full house
6
Flush
7
3 of a kind
8
Straight
9
4 to straight flush open ended (queen high)
10
Two pair
11
4 to straight flush inside draw
12
High pair (jacks, queens, kings, or aces)
13
3 cards to royal flush
14
4 cards to flush
15
10 J Q K
16
Low pair (two through tens)
17
9 10 J Q
18
8 9 10 J
19
9 J Q suited
20
9 10 J suited
21
Open-ended straight draw (highest card a ten)
22
8 J Q suited
23
3 to straight flush – open ended (highest card a ten)
24
9 Q K suited, 9 J K suited
25
9 10 Q , 8 10 J , 8 9 J suited
26
J Q suited
27
J Q K A
28
J K suited, Q K suited
29
J A, Q A, K A suited
30
4 to straight inside (three high cards)
31
3 to straight flush – two gaps and one high card
32
3 to straight flush – one gap and no high card
33
JQK
34
JQ
35
10 J suited
36
JQ, JK
37
10 Q suited
38
JA, QA, KA
39
10 K suited
40
One high card – jack, queen, king, or ace
41
3 to straight flush two gaps and no high card
42
Five low cards, no straight or flush draw – redraw all five cards
A Few Final Thoughts
What the above strategy insists is that you look at what you are dealt, find the highest part of it on the list, and play from there. In other words, if all you have are five mismatched, unconnected low cards, 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.
If all you have is two small cards and J-Q-K (#33 on the list), you discard the two small cards. But if you also have a small pair, you discard the J-Q-K since the small pair is a higher start (#16 on the list). This list might sound tough to memorize, but after playing a bit and consulting your list from time to time, it will become second nature, and you’ll do great.
The final note is that while you may not be able to find the perfect 9/6 machine, you can always increase your return by joining the casino players club. Most major casinos in the US and Canada offer free rooms, food and beverages to players. In Las Vegas, most casinos award 1 point for every $1 wagered. 1,000 points equals $10. If you play 25-cent video poker, your total comp for an hour of play with 300 hands will be about $3.75. If you find a good 9/6 Jacks or Better video poker machine with the standard 99.5% payout, you'll get more than 100% return on your comps. It doesn't get much better than that!
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