Jacks Or Better How To Play

• Jacks Or Better Playtech
• Jacks Or Better How To Play A Game

Jacks or Better is one of the most popular video poker formats. This has been the go-to version of the game since video poker terminals hit casinos and bars. It is based on draw poker, when you get a single draw and aim to hit jack-jack or better to win.

You’ll get to choose whether to hold or discard any or all of your five cards. The best payout in Jacks or Better is for a Royal Flush, which pays 800 coins (or in some casinos, a progressive jackpot prize).

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Play Free Jacks or Better. Match the winning combinations in this online 5-card poker game involving strategy and luck!

Jacks or Better can be played in regulated states both at online and live casinos. This page details exactly how the game works, the best payouts you should look for and the optimal strategies behind playing the game.

Jacks or Better – Look for a full pay table, otherwise known as 9/6

There are two important considerations when you first play Jacks or Better. The first is the pay table, to ensure you are gaining the best odds possible. The second is the number of coins in play, which also has a large effect on the odds.

The first thing you should look at in the pay table are the prizes for a full house and a flush. You’ll want to ensure that the payout for the full house is 9 coins and that the payoff for a flush is 6 coins.

In some variations of the game, these payouts can be lowered to 8 and 5 coins respectively. While these differences might seem minor, the house edge increases from around 0.5% to 2.5% in the lower paid version. This is a 5x difference in the house edge. Take a quick glance at the pay table, and ensure you are playing the higher paying games (there are plenty of variations to choose from, especially online).

Number of Coins in Play

This is another serious consideration, as you should always opt for the 5-coin option. The payout for a Royal Flush betting one coin is 250 coins. If you bet 2, 3 or 4 coins, the payout increases to 500, 750 and 1,000 coins respectively.

However, if you play for the maximum 5 coins, the Royal Flush payout jumps to 2,000 coins (instead of the expected 1,250 coins).

Therefore, if you were to play a game with a total stake of $5 for example, you should always play 5 coins for $1, instead of 1 coin for $5. If you don’t play for 5 coins you are missing out on expected value.

How Jacks or Better Works

To start the game, you’ll hit the ‘Deal’ button which will deal you five cards. You’ll now get to choose how many of those 5 cards you want to hold or discard. Any of the cards you discard (which when playing the best strategy will usually be most of them) will now be replaced by new cards. You now have your final hand and you’ll be paid if you do indeed have Jacks or Better.

Here is an example payout for Jacks or Better (with the 9/6 pays for the full house and flush).

• Royal Flush: 800
• Straight Flush: 50
• 4 of a Kind: 25
• Full House: 9
• Flush: 6
• Straight: 4
• 3 of a kind: 3
• 2 Pair: 2
• Jacks or Better: 1

Strategy for Playing Jacks or Better

Much of the strategy around playing Jacks or Better is seemingly common sense, especially if you are dealt a series of big cards. However, things can get a little tricky when you have two potential ways to go (such as five cards that include a pair and the potential of a straight).

Here are some key pointers you can use in your strategy:

If you are dealt a royal flush, a straight flush, four of a kind, a full house and a flush, these hands play themselves and you should hold all cards. If you have four to a Royal Flush, hold those above a full house and a flush.

Pairs are all-important in Jacks or Better. If you receive a single high pair (Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces) within your five cards, these should be held instead of four cards of the same suit or even three of the five cards that make up a Royal Flush.

Even holding a low pair is deemed the best strategy over a number of deals. For example, if you are dealt a pair of 3’s in a hand that includes 7, 8 and 9 that are suited, you should hold those 3’s and discard the straight flush opportunity.

If you have a hand with just two high cards (with no other possibilities such as flushes and straights), or even just a single high card, you should simply hold them and discard the others. You’ll hold those high cards to give you a better possibility of hitting those high pairs.

Remember, when you are playing Jacks or Better, a high card is considered to be any picture card or an ace.

Jacks or Better Cheat Sheet

This strategy chart (cheat sheet) outlines what you should do in the event you are met with the following conditions.

• 2 Pairs: Unless you’re drawing to a four card royal flush, you should always keep any two pair combination.
• 4 card straight flush: You’ll want to keep any 4 card straight flush.
• Jacks or better: Hold if you have a pair of jacks or better (any).
• 3 cards to a royal flush: Hold if you have three cards to a royal flush.
• 4 cards to a flush: Hold if you have four cards to a flush
• Pair lower than J’s: Hold if you have a pair lower than J’s.
• Open straight draw: Hold if you have any four card open straight draw.
• AKQJ: Hold if you have unsuited AKQJ in your hand.
• 2 suited high cards: Hold if you have any two high cards (suited).
• 3 cards to a straight flush: Hold if you have three cards drawing to a straight flush.
• KQJ: Hold if you have any KQJ (unsuited).
• Unsuited high cards: Hold if you have any two high cards (unsuited).
• K, Q, J + 10 of same suit: Hold if you have any K, Q, or J, but only if you’re holding a 10 of the same suit.
• High card: Hold if you have any single high card.
• None of the above: Draw five new cards

Jackpot Variations of Jacks or Better

Occasionally, you can come across jackpot versions of this popular game, with the maximum prize for the Royal Flush awarding you a progressive jackpot. If the jackpot prize is much larger than the standard payout for the Royal Flush, this can change your strategy slightly, especially in situations where you have three cards to the hand (at this point you should prioritize the Royal Flush more).

Wrapping Up – Is there a ‘Better’ Video Poker Variation than Jacks or Better?

Jacks or Better can be considered one of the classic video poker games. With no wilds thrown into the mix, the big hands can be hard to land. While this sounds like a bad thing, it’s actually the opposite – due to that difficulty, the payouts are that much bigger in Jacks or Better.

Likewise, if you can find a full pay table, you can decrease the house edge significantly. Correct play,

The game can now be enjoyed online, as well as in the live casinos. Online casinos in NJ, Pennsylvania, MI and WV are regulating online casinos, giving you the chance to play the game if you are located within the state lines. Check out Jacks or Better and many other video poker formats online.

Basic Game Play

Jacks or Better is a very popular video poker game, which many players finds fun because of its high payouts and its easy game play. To play jacks or better doesn't take a whole lot from you, no matter if it is in a live casino or if you are sitting at home in front of your computer playing it.

When you are ready to play you insert credits, choose the amount of credits you wish to bet and press the 'deal' button and five different cards will then appear on the screen of the machine or your computer. Your objective with these five cards is to form the best possible hand according to regular poker hand rankings, but in order to get a payout you will need to get a pair of jacks or better, hence the name.

The first five cards that appears on the machine or your screen can then be chosen to be 'held', which means that when you press deal for the second and last time, those cards will not change. This can be useful if you already have a pair of kings for example, making the chance of you hitting three of a kind or a better hand even bigger.

Once you have decided if you want to hold any cards or not, you simply press deal again and the machine will give you new cards on the cards you did not hold. Once the cards appears the machine will instantly show you if you have won a prize or not and pay you accordingly. A very simple and fun game to play both in live casinos and online.

Rules

The rules of the game are very simple. All you need to be aware of is how many credits you will be betting in each hand, try and form a hand that is a pair of jacks or better and the machine will take care of the rest for you.

There are two rounds of cards in jacks or better, the first round you can hold cards and the second round is known as a showdown round. You can only hold cards after the cards are dealt the first time, the second time there is no holding or changing any cards. Some jacks or better machines comes with bonus games where you can choose to try and double your prize by guessing if the next card will be higher or lower than the card shown on the machine, but in general this is not something that we recommend to do as it provides a lower payout in general.

Hand Rankings

The hand rankings system used in jacks or better is the same as used in regular Texas Hold'em poker and five card draw games. Below you will find a chart of how the hand ranking system works exactly, if you are not familiar with the ranking system already:

• High Card - When you have nothing on your hand, the highest card is the one that counts
• One Pair - Any two cards that are of the same denomination
• Two Pairs - Any two sets of cards with the same denomination
• Three of a kind - When you have three cards with the same denomination
• Straight - Five cards that are in sequence, no matter which suit they have
• Flush - Five cards of the same suit, no matter which denomination they have
• Full House - Three cards of one denomination and two cards of another denomination
• Straight Flush - Five cards in sequence all of the same suit
• Royal Flush - Best possible poker hand that exists. The hand is where you have ace to ten straight all in the same suit.

What is important to remember here is that high card doesn't provide a prize and that one pair only gives a prize if the pair is of jacks or better.

Payouts

The payouts for playing jacks or better are in general the same for most casinos, however it may vary some places. The general payouts are as shown below:

Jacks Or Better Playtech

• One Pair of Jacks or Better Pays 1:1
• Two Pairs Pays 2:1
• Three of a Kind Pays 3:1
• Straight Pays 4:1
• Flush Pays 6:1
• Full House Pays 9:1
• Four of a Kind Pays 25:1
• Straight Flush Pays 50:1
• Royal Flush Pays 250:1

Jacks Or Better How To Play A Game

Always remember to check if the payouts are better, the same or worse than the scheme above, so you know if you should play jacks or better on the site you are currently on, or change to a site that offers higher payouts as it matters for your odds of winning in the game.