Jacks or Better Video Poker Strategy

Jacks or Better is one of the most fun games to play at an online casino, for many reasons. Not only is it fun, but it also has one of the highest payout percentages of all casino games.

Most table games, as well as slots, have a typical return to player of 90-97%, but Jacks or Better can offer you up to 99.54%, if you know what you’re doing and play your hands right.

Without further ado, here’s a roundup of Jacks or Better video poker strategy, which is pretty straightforward and simple.

So, what is the Jacks or Better Video Poker Strategy?

As with any game, when it comes to Jacks or Better video poker strategy, you need to know how to reduce the house’s edge, how to make the best out of any combination of cards you receive, as well as how to maximize your winning chances.

So let’s dive in. it really helps if you know basic poker strategy, but if you don’t, here’s a quick roundup of all the best winning hands (and a quick video of these in popular culture):

• A royal flush – a flush card from Ace to Jack.
• A straight flush: 5 consecutive cards in the same suit (e.g. 2-7 spades)
• Four of a kind: e.g. four cards of the same value, such as four Kings.
• Full house: give cards, with one pair and three of a kind, such as 2 kings and 3 8s.
• Flush: five cards of the same suit, such as 5 hearts.
• Straight: five cards in sequence, even with mixed suits, such as 2-7, but of all different suits.
• Three of a kind: three cards of the same value, such as 3 9s.
• Two pair: two pairs of cards with the same value each, e.g. 2 3s and 2 6s.
• Jacks or Better: this is the easiest winning combination – one pair of jacks or a higher value, e.g. 2 queens.

When it comes to Jacks or Better video poker strategy, the above information is key.

Jacks or Better Video Poker Strategy: How to Play

The truth behind Jacks or Better video poker strategy is that it’s both a game of skill and luck, just as with most casino games, and especially with poker.

The way you play your Jacks or Better video poker strategy is by playing poker:

• You get 5 cards, and choose which to keep for the next round.
• Hold the cards you want to keep, based on the information above. With Jacks or Better video poker strategy, you need to keep an eye out specifically for jacks or better cards (queen, king or ace).

Here’s a very basic Jacks or Better video poker strategy to help you out – keep this in mind when trying to use your video poker Jacks or Better strategy:

• If you have four cards in a straight or flush, hold them, draw one extra card.
• If you have three cards in a potential Royal flush, hold them. Draw two extra cards.
• If you’re two cards away from a straight flush, hold them, draw two extra cards.
• If you have a pair, hold them and draw three extra cards.
• If you have no matching cards, hold one card that is a Jack or better.
• If you have no combination of jacks or better, draw 5 new cards.

Jacks or Better Video Poker Strategy: Low and High Pairs

Here’s an extra bit of Jacks or Better video poker strategy you need to keep in mind: what do you do with high or low pairs in your Jacks or Better video poker strategy?

Here’s what we say:

Low Pair

Keep them. They’re very useful in most situations. The only time you should get rid of any low pair you have is when you have three to a royal flush, or four to a royal flush. Then, the low pair is standing in your way of something better and more winnable.

High Pair

High pairs are almost guaranteed to win (it’s called ‘Jacks or Better’ for a reason, right?). Keep your high pair other than in the following situations:

• If you have four to a flush
• If you have four to a straight
• If you have three to a royal flush
• If you have four to a Royal flush.

That’s because all of these occurrences are much more valuable in your Jacks or Better video poker strategy than if you have a high pair.

FAQs about Jacks or Better video poker strategy

How do you play a Jacks or Better video poker strategy?

For this, we’ve gone into quite a lot of depth above. Our main advice would be to familiarize yourself with all of the advice we’ve given in this article, as well as the rules of poker and the times when you need to use certain moves in your Jacks or Better video poker strategy.

What’s the best video poker jacks or better strategy?

Again, you should check out all of the combinations of cards and more above. The key thing to remember here is, always keep an eye on your hand, and keep your most available cards if you can. It’s always worth it to check out the basic poker strategy we outlined in the top section of the article too.

How do you win at Jacks or Better?

It’s simple: there are a few ways to win. We’ve given you some pretty clear advice on the winning combinations you should know about, above, as well as what to do in specific occasions with certain cards. You should try to memorize this.

The Bottom Line on Jacks or Better Video Poker Strategy

Is super important to learn if you’re a Jacks or Better poker fan. We say, everyone should be – it’s the game that keeps on giving, as it has everything you need in a game: it’s fun, it’s strategic and it has a super high return to player percentage.

Familiarize yourself with what we’ve outlined above, and good luck with your gameplay!