BE OBSERVANT – MAKE SURE YOU FIND A TRUE FULL-PAY JACKS OR BETTER GAME. Jacks or Better is a simple and basic video poker variant. It is great for online video poker players looking to get their feet wet, learn the basics of betting, and looking to become more experienced at utilizing basic strategy in their play. 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.

• Jacks Or Better Optimal Strategy
• Jacks Or Better Strategy

Jacks or Better video poker offers some of the best odds in the casino. The best version of Jacks or Better video poker, the 9/6 variant, has a payback percentage of 99.5%, which is better for the player than just about any other game in the casino. Even 8/5 Jacks or Better has a payout percentage of 97.3%, which is far worse than a full pay but still far better than most bets on most other casino games.

But in order to enjoy the high payback percentage, you have to play using expert Jacks or Better strategy. The casinos and the manufacturers estimate that players who don’t use an expert strategy are giving up between 2% and 4%, which is a significant amount of money.

How significant?

Consider the average hourly loss of an expert player who’s running true to the mathematical expectation of a game. She’s making 600 wagers per hour at $1.25 per wager, so she’s putting $750 per hour into action. With a house edge of 0.5%, she can expect to lose $3.75 per hour. Assuming she gamblers for ten hours on her trip, she’s got lots of entertainment for just $37.50.

Then let’s take a look at her husband, who ignores expert Jacks or Better video poker strategy and just follows his hunches. (We’ll also assume that his hunches aren’t very good.) He’s losing 4.5% of his bets, which means that he’s losing nine times as much as his wife. At the end of the trip, he’s lost $337.50.

That’s a significant difference.

How to develop an expert Jacks or Better strategy

Computer programs can determine the expected value of any given hand. There are 32 different ways to play any given hand, but only one way has the best expectation for the player. The more often the player chooses to play her hand in that way, the lower the house edge becomes.

But since there are 2.5 million different possible starting hands in video poker, expert strategy groups hands according to types, in order to make the process easier to learn. After all, memorizing 2.5 million different potential decisions is probably impossible unless you’re a machine, but memorizing several types of hands isn’t as hard.

When you consider that 55% of your hands will lose no matter what, you can see that strategy decisions can be narrowed down pretty fast. In fact, a pair of jacks or better will make up 21% of the number of winning hands you get. The small hands, including three of a kind, two pair, and a pair of jacks, make up 70% of the total return on the game.

How to use a Jacks or Better strategy

All Jacks or Better strategy tables consist of a list of hands. The player starts at the top, which is the best possible hand, and then moves down until she finds the hand that she actually has. She then plays it according to the strategy instructions.

Different Jacks or Better strategy charts offer somewhat different instructions. Below I’ve provided one Jacks or Better video poker strategy that’s easy to learn. The house edge against someone using this strategy is only 0.8%, which isn’t as kind to the player as 0.5%, but it’s still considerably better than just about every other game in the casino. And of course, this assumes that you’re playing a full pay, 9/6 Jacks or Better game.

The Jacks or Better Strategy Chart

One of the main principles behind most video poker strategies is that you want the machine to deal you a winning hand. If you’re dealt a winning hand, you will very rarely discard any of those cards to draw to something else. The only exception is 4 cards to a royal flush, and that exception is only there because the payout on that hand is so large compared to the other hands.

In fact, you’ll notice that a lot of the Jacks or Better strategy focuses on the royal flush. You’ll only see a royal flush once in every 40,000 or so hands, but the payout makes for a big part of your overall expectation. If you have four cards to a royal flush, you’ll always draw to it. If you have three cards to a royal flush, you’ll always draw to it UNLESS you have a winning combination, in which case you’ll keep the winning cards instead.

A four-card flush draw is better than a low pair, but both of them are better than a straight draw. The reason, again, has to do with the differences in the payouts as compared to the possibility of finishing your hand.

This Jacks or Better strategy requires memorizing 15 lines of rules/guidelines, but it’s far easier than a more advanced strategy. Once you’ve mastered this, you can easily move up to a more advanced strategy with about 21 lines or rules/guidelines, and then you can gain back that additional 0.3%. Play for free or real money today! Put this Jacks or Better video poker strategy into practice and watch your winnings grow!

Interested in trying your hand at other online video poker games? Check out this article on 7 tips to improve your video poker strategy to ensure you play at the top of your game.

Video poker machines appeared in the casinos after the invention of the personal computers and it was one of the first machines casinos started to use. The game has gained big popularity over the years till nowadays when it is one of the most popular games of chance in the casinos around the world. The video poker machines have been evolving during all these years and nowadays, players may choose from a wide variety of modifications and variations of the game. Many gamblers prefer to play video poker because it seems safer than the table games, it is easy to play and unlike the slot machines it involves decision-making. These are the main reasons for the huge success of this game over the years.

Due to the wide popularity of the game, it became a challenge to all casino players around the world and they started looking for a way to beat the video poker machine by developing and using various strategies. A way to improve your chances significantly, according to some casino players, is to use strategies which tell the players when to place high or low bets, depending on the cards that have been dealt before. However, these systems is not quite reliable, to our opinion. We think that the right way to play is to try to decrease the casino edge and thus raise your chances to win by using video poker strategies which are all about making the right decisions as to which cards to hold and discard.

On MyCasinoStrategy, you may find video poker strategies which tell you what decisions to make depending on the cards that you have been dealt. Here, you will find useful strategies for beginners – basic deuces wild strategy and basic jacks or better strategy. Also, we’ve got one which is suitable for experienced players which you may read here – advanced video poker strategy.

Basic video poker strategy, deuces wild

Jacks Or Better Optimal Strategy

Video poker is a game which requires decision-making skills and as such it requires you to make the right decisions by looking at the cards which have been dealt to you. Therefore, the most important thing you is to know which cards to keep and which to discard. Below, you may see a basic deuces wild strategy that will tell you what cards to discard and what cards to keep in order to have the best chances to win in a game of video poker. Make sure that you hold the cards that you have according to the basic video poker strategy below.

The difference between the basic video poker strategy for jacks or better and the one for deuces wild is that when playing deuces wild your strategy will be changing depending on the number of wild cards that you have in your hand. Below, you may see the best way to play in certain situations – which cards to keep and which to discard, depending on the number of wild cards in your hand:

• NO WILD CARDS

Jacks Or Better Strategy

1. Five low cards.
   Discard all five cards.
2. King and Ten; King and Jack or King and Queen.
   Discard the other three cards.
3. Three-card straight flush.
   Hold the three-card straight flush and discard the other two cards.
4. Four-card straight.
   Keep the four-card straight and discard the remaining card.
5. One pair.
   Hold the pair and discard everything else.
6. Two pairs.
   Keep the two pairs and discard the other card.
7. Four-card flush.
   Hold the four-card flush.
8. Three-card royal flush.
   Discard the other two cards.
9. Four-card straight flush.
   Keep the four-card straight flush and discard the other card.
10. Three-of-a-kind.
    Discard the other two cards.
11. Straight.
    Hold all cards (nothing to discard).
12. Flush.
    Keep all the cards.
13. Full house.
    Keep all the cards.
14. Four-of-a-kind.
    Discard the other card and keep the four-of-a-kind.
15. Straight flush.
    Keep everything.
16. Four-card royal flush.
    Keep the four-card royal flush and discard the other card.
17. Royal flush.
    The dream of every player. Hold everything.

• ONE WILD CARD

1. One wild card.
   Hold the wild card only and discard everything else.
2. One wild card and a three-card straight.
   Hold the wild card and the three-card straight.
3. One wild card and a two-card straight flush.
   Hold the wild card and the two-card straight flush.
4. One wild card and two-card royal flush.
   Hold the wild card and the two-card royal flush and discard everything else.
5. One wild card and two-card straight flush.
   Discard everything except the wild card and the two-card straight flush.
6. One wild card and three-card straight flush.
   Keep the wild card and the three-card straight flush and discard the other card.
7. One wild card and one pair.
   Hold the wild card and the pair and discard the other two cards.
8. One wild card and four-card flush.
   Keep all cards.
9. One wild card and 2 pair – full house.
   Hold all of the cards.
10. One wild card and three-card royal flush.
    Keep the wild card and the three-card royal flush and discard the other card.
11. One wild card and three-of-a-kind.
    Discard the other card.
12. One wild card and four-card straight flush.
    Keep all cards.
13. One wild card and four-of-a-kind – five of a kind.
    Don’t discard anything.
14. One wild card and four-card royal flush.
    Hold everything.

• TWO WILD CARDS

1. Two wild cards.
   Hold the wild cards and discard everything else.
2. Two wild cards and two-card straight flush.
   Keep the two wild cards and the two-card straight flush and discard the other card.
3. Two wild cards and two-card royal flush.
   Discard the other card.
4. Two wild cards and one pair – four of a kind.
   Discard the other card.
5. Two wild cards and three-card straight flush.
   Keep everything.
6. Two wild cards and three-of-a-kind – five of a kind.
   Hold all the cards and do not discard anything.
7. Two wild cards and three-card royal flush.
   Hold everything, you’ve got a royal flush.

• THREE WILD CARDS

1. Three wild cards.
   Keep the wild cards and discard everything else.
2. Three wild cards and one pair – five of a kind.
   Hold all the cards.
3. Three wild cards and two-card royal flush.
   Hold everything.

• FOUR WILD CARDS

1. Four wild cards.
   Hold the wild cards only.

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 discard and which to keep. Below, you may see a basic jacks or better strategy video poker strategy that will tell you what cards to discard and what cards to keep in order to have the best chances to win. Make sure that you hold the cards that you have according to the system below:

1. Five low cards.
   Discard all five cards.
2. One high card (Jack, Queen, King or Ace).
   Keep the high card and discard the other four cards.
3. Two, unsuited, high cards.
   Keep the high cards and discard the other three cards.
4. A 10 and a high card.
   Hold the 10 and the high card, in order to go for royal flush.
5. Unsuited Jack, Queen and King.
   Discard the other two cards.
6. Three-card straight flush without high cards or with one high card.
   Keep the three-card straight flush and discard the other two cards.
7. Four-card straight.
   Hold the four-card straight and discard the other card.
8. Two, suited, consecutive high cards.
   Keep the two high cards and discard the other three.
9. Unsuited Jack, Queen, King and Ace.
   Keep the high cards and discard the other card.
10. Three-card straight flush with 2 high cards.
    Keep the three-card straight flush and discard the other two cards.
11. Suited 10, Jack and Queen.
    Discard the other two cards.
12. Suited 9, Jack and Queen.
    Discard the other two cards.
13. Unsuited 8, 9, 10 and Jack or 9, 10, Jack and Queen.
    Discard the remaining card.
14. Low pair (10 and less).
    Discard the remaining three cards.
15. Unsuited 10, Jack, Queen and King.
    Discard the remaining card.
16. Four-card flush.
    Discard the remaining card.
17. Three-card royal flush.
    Discard the remaining two cards.
18. High pair (Jacks or better).
    Discard the remaining three cards.
19. Two pairs.
    Discard the remaining card.
20. Four-card straight flush.
    Discard the remaining card.
21. Straight.
    Keep all cards.
22. Three of a kind.
    Discard the remaining two cards.
23. Flush.
    Keep all the cards.
24. Full House.
    Hold all cards.
25. Four-card royal flush.
    Discard the remaining card.
26. Four of a kind.
    Discard the remaining card.
27. Straight flush.
    Keep all cards.
28. Royal flush.
    The dream of every player. Of course, we hold everything.

Advanced video poker strategy

Our advanced video poker strategy is suitable for experienced players and below, you may see situations with exemplary hands and the way you should act in such situations according to it:

• Three cards to straight flush and a single high card.
  You should keep the high card because the chance for you to get the other two cards to the straight flush is much smaller than to make a combination with the high card.
• King and Queen/Jack and three cards to straight flush.
  You’d better keep the King and Queen/Jack.
• Queen and Jack and three cards to straight flush.
  You should keep the Queen and Jack.
• Queen, Jack and Ace.
  You keep the Queen and the Jack.
• King, Queen and Jack.
  You should keep the Queen and Jack.
• Three cards to a straight flush and two low cards.
  Keep the three cards to straight flush.
• Suited 10 and Jack (two cards to royal flush) and three cards to straight flush.
  Discard the 10 and Jack.
• Four cards to a straight or three cards to a straight flush.
  You’d better go for the straight.
• Low pair and three cards to straight.
  You should keep the low pair.
• Low pair and two cards to royal flush.
  Keep the low pair.
• Four cards to flush or three cards to a straight flush.
  Play for the flush.
• Four cards to a flush or four cards to a straight.
  Keep the flush.
• Four cards to a flush or three cards to a royal flush.
  You should hold the three cards to royal flush.
• Three cards to a royal flush and high pair.
  You need to keep the high pair.
• Four cards to straight flush or low pair.
  Go for the four cards to straight flush.
• Four cards to straight flush or high pair.
  You need to play the four cards to straight flush.
• Flush or three cards to royal flush.
  Keep the flush.
• Flush or four cards to royal flush.
  Go for the royal flush.

If you’d like to test any of our strategies and play in an online casino, you can CLICK HERE, sign up, deposit, get a bonus and try your luck.

The information on this website does not promise or guarantee winnings in any way. Gambling with real money poses a risk and everyone must do it wisely, under his own responsibility and will.