Today, players can choose from a wide variety of video poker games. But not so long ago, there was only one type of video poker on the market—the original form of slot machines with a poker theme, called Jacks or Better video poker! The original and one of the most played variations of video poker is still Jacks or Better.
With regard to jacks or better video poker strategy, there are many tools at your disposal to assist you play the game at a high level, which will greatly increase your chances of winning. There will always be a lot of luck involved in gambling, but using the best video poker jacks or better methods can only help your performance.
Below are TheSportsGeek’s top 5 video poker jacks-or-better tactics. Check out these best video poker jacks or better techniques if you want to see an improvement in your performance and win rate. Let’s get going!
Know How To Find The Best Pay Tables
This is by far the most crucial tip we will cover today, so if you don’t follow it, none of the other video poker jacks or better strategy tips will be able to help you win. The pay tables were all the same when Jacks or Better initially appeared in casinos. But gradually, the casinos want to increase their revenue from the games, so they began to alter the pay tables.
Some of these adjustments are difficult to notice, but you can be certain that if the casino is making one, it isn’t being done to increase payouts! It is crucial to play at pay tables that are as close to ideal as possible because you simply won’t be able to defeat any of these games with stinky pay tables.
Examining the payouts for the full house and the flush is the quickest way to determine whether the game you are playing has good pay tables. While there are many other possible differences in rewards, generally speaking, you are playing at the appropriate game if the full house and the flush pay nicely.
The greatest jacks or better pay tables will have a full house payout of 9-1 and a flush payout of 6-1. The poorest pay tables I’ve seen for jacks or better only offer 6-1 for a full house and 5-1 for a flush. While they might not seem like significant variations, they are, and they can really add up! The majority of pay tables are going to fall somewhere in the middle.
To locate the finest pay tables, you might need to look around a bit or play with a larger denomination, but trust me when I say it will be worthwhile. These games with the best pay tables are frequently situated in the high-limit section or tucked away in the casino’s rear room, where only savvy players can locate them. Knowing this, spend more time finding the appropriate game before playing.
Two Pair Is Always Better Than One Pair
The payout for two pairs is the same as the payout for one pair in several other well-known video poker variations, including bonus poker, double bonus poker, and double double bonus poker. However, in jacks or better poker, 2 pair pays twice as much as 1 pair, with a 2-1 payment as opposed to the 1-1 payoff for a single pair.
A detailed examination of the pay tables will reveal the payments, but because so many games no longer offer the additional 2 pair payout, many players choose to hold just one high pair and draw when they ought to be holding both pairs. When playing jacks or better, two pairs are usually preferable than one, even though this isn’t always the case with video poker. As a result, hold both of them before drawing!
Hold A Large Pair Over A 3 Card Royal Flush
We can discuss some of the more intricate video poker jacks or better techniques now that we are certain that you are playing at the correct machine. The second piece of advice I’m adding is one I frequently witness being misapplied.
Everybody enjoys royal flushes. Most of us play video poker to begin with in hopes of winning one of those large jackpots. However, if you want to succeed, you must ensure that you are selecting as many statistically sound options as you can, which occasionally necessitates foregoing a potential royal flush draw.
If the Royal Is Wrong Interesting enough, but, if you follow the rules, you should hold the high pair and not draw for the royal flush if you have a high pair (jacks or better) and only 3 cards remain in that royal flush.
I have observed that the majority of casual video poker players would rather rather draw to that royal than hold the guaranteed payout pair. Although that is understandable, it isn’t the right move. Hold that pair and get paid rather than trying to test luck and take the long shot if you find yourself in a situation where you have a high pair and three to the royal.
Toss An Inside Straight
It seems like you have a respectable hand when you are dealt 4 to an inside straight. But it’s not. Inside straight draws are rubbish, to put it plainly.
You would be better off giving up the inside straight draw and holding only one high card if you had a single jack or better. Unbelievably, you would be better off discarding your entire hand and drawing 5 cards instead of drawing to the inside straight if all your hand was all low cards.
Inside straight draws are challenging to land, and when they do, they don’t pay very well. The draw of 5, 6, 7, or 9 may seem like “something,” but it is actually nothing, so you should play it as such.
This final strategy for playing jacks or better video poker tip plays off of that last tip, as you shouldn’t be afraid to throw your entire hand away and draw 5 if you don’t have anything to draw to. 3 card flush draws with all low cards, inside straight draws with all low cards, and even hands like small suited connectors need to be tossed away without a second thought.
I know it can be frustrating to throw your entire hand away, as most of the time, you aren’t going to make anything and will lose your bet. But holding cards that are working against you only makes it harder to get paid, so you have to have the courage to punt if that is what the math is telling you to do.
Now that you know how to play video poker “jacks or better,” you are ready to start practicing. It’s far better to practice before you go into a land based or an online casino. You can learn, practice and play for free HERE. It’s a lot of fun and it’s totally free.
Learn To Play Video Poker Perfectly – Free Training Program
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