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In order to talk about Jacks or Better video poker, we need to backtrack a little bit. Jacks or Better here at Everygame Casino and at all online and land-based casinos is based on simple five-card draw poker.
So, people can play Jacks or Better draw poker at home with their pals. The difference between a home-brewed Jacks or Better game and a Jacks or Better casino video poker game is in the rules that apply to the video poker game.
Video Poker is a Popular Way to “Play Poker”
In a real-life poker game of any poker variation, played at a casino, a poker room, or a dining room, people are playing against real-life other people. In poker people bluff.
Video poker gives gamers the chance to play a great poker variation without any fear of being bluffed or of having one’s own bluff figured out!
In Video Poker Gamers Play for a Big Payout
In truth, most winning hands in video poker are a pair of Jacks or better! However, there is no pot in video poker. Instead, the game operates through a pay table wherein gamers win more for having a better hand.
In the best Jacks or Better video poker strategy, there are many situations where a gamer will “give up” a winning hand in order to pursue a much better hand!
There is a Big Difference in the Payout Tables
At Everygame Casino and at all reputable online casinos, a full house wins 9 coins and a flush wins 6 coins. This is called 9-6 video poker. At far too many land-based casinos, the pay table is an 8-5 table where a full house wins 8 coins and a flush wins five coins.
The difference is that in a 9-6 video poker game at Everygame Casino, the gamer has about a 99.5% return to player rate while that rate in an 8-5 game at a land-based casino is several percentage points less.
Can Gamers Learn How to Play Jacks or Better at Low Cost?
Actually, at online casinos gamers can play Jacks or Better for free. We offer free play specifically in order to help gamers learn the rules and strategy of our over 300 games at zero cost!
Land-based casinos cannot afford to offer unlimited free play!
The Return to Player Rate in Jacks or Better is True
In slots, which are still the most popular game we have on offer, variance (sometimes called volatility) causes the return to player rate to be divided by fewer players than those playing the game! A slot with high volatility has the same return-to-player rate as a slot with low volatility but the winnings are divided among fewer players!
In video poker, there is no variance except for the strategy factor. Gamers who study video poker strategy and use the best strategy on every hand have a 99.5% return to player rate.
This means that in an hour of video poker, a gamer will be very close to breaking even: small wins at the end of the session or small losses at the end.
What is Best Strategy in Jacks or Better?
There is a large extra payout for a Royal Flush. Gamers have to bet the maximum in order to qualify to win the extra payout. So, we always bet the maximum.
Since Everygame Casino also encourages sound money management, gamers have to decide if they should play single-hand video poker or multi-hand video poker.
There are 38 Line Items in a Basic Video Poker Strategy Chart
These charts are widely available online. We look from top to bottom even though the vast majority of dealt hands will be from the bottom few possibilities.
Pat Hands
Let’s start with the better “pat hands”. A pat hand is a hand that wins immediately without the need to draw other cards. A pair of Jacks is also a pat hand of sorts but there are times to break the pair in order to pursue a better hand.
Here are the pat hands at the top of the strategy charts:
- Royal Flush
- Straight flush
- Four of a kind
- Full House
- Flush
- Straight
You will stand with the first four pat hands. There is no way to improve these hands without risking too much winnings. You might have a straight flush and four to a Royal Flush. Keep the straight flush as it pays very well.
However, if you have a flush and also four to a Royal Flush, the best strategy is to discard the card that is outside the Royal Flush. There is sound mathematical reasoning behind this.
- There are still 8 cards that can give you a flush.
- There is one card that can give you a Royal Flush.
- There may be twelve cards that can give you a winning pair.
- There are two cards that can give you a simple straight.
So, there are 22 cards that will win money and 47 cards left in the deck. The odds are very good that a winning card will show up.
Basic Jacks or Better Strategy Often Follows the Same Line of Reasoning
The hardest hands to figure are the ones where you have a straight draw. There are outside straights and inside straights. The odds of hitting an outside straight are twice as good as the odds of hitting an inside straight so four to an outside straight is much better than four to an inside straight.
Are Three of a Kind and Two Pair Good Hands?
Three of a kind and two pair are also very good hands. In most cases, you will keep these hands and try to improve them. Three of a kind improves to either four of a kind or a full house more often than three to a Royal Flush or three to a straight flush hit those rarified hands.
Hold a Low Pair
This is another strategy item that many gamers do not follow. A low pair is not a winning hand, but it can become a winning hand with another low card, it can become two pair, and rarely it becomes a full house or four of a kind.
Discarding the low pair loses more often! So, keep a low pair.
Keep a Single High Card
That means keeping a card that can pair up and win. It is not considered sound to keep two high cards as it takes away the chance to improve the single high card.
The exception to not keeping two high cards is if they are suited. Then there are also flush, straight flush, and Royal Flush possibilities.
Everygame Casino is Home to Many Variations of Video Poker
One of the many advantages gamers at an online casino have over a player at a land-based casino is that at Everygame Casino, gamers can play all of our games at their leisure during many short gaming sessions.
We also offer a Welcome Package that is worth up to $5555! We run many promotions with deposit bonuses and often free spins as well!
