Jacks Or Better

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Game Information: Jacks or Better video poker is one of the most popular video poker variations in both live and online casinos, primarily due to the miniscule house edge the game offers, making the players much more likely to win money than when playing at most other video poker machines. The game is played pretty much like any other video poker variation,  with any combination with a pair of jacks or stronger awarding the player a payout. The high payouts of some of the stronger combinations, especially at maximum spin and the fact all combinations of jacks or better are paid out, makes the game extremely lucrative for the player and almost negates all casino edge.
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Jacks Or Better Rules and Gameplay

The rules of Jacks or Better are not very complicated. The player is first asked to pick his bet, with a coin value that can be increased as well as the amount of coins. Usually you will be able to bet up to five coins, and bonuses will be applied when the maximum of five coins is bet.
Once you have selected your bet size, the game can commence. You simply click the button to deal a hand and you will get five random cards from a virtual deck of 52 cards. You than have the option of discarding anywhere between one and five of those cards, which are then replaced with different cards. This is all done in order to try and get the best possible poker hand that you can get.
Depending on the final poker hand that you have, the game will pay out a fixed amount of money according to the following table:

  • Royal Flush – 800 x Bet
  • Straight Flush – 50 x Bet
  • Four of a Kind – 25 x Bet
  • Full House – 9 x Bet
  • Flush – 6 x Bet
  • Straight – 4 x Bet
  • Three of a Kind – 3 x Bet
  • Two Pair – 2 x Bet
  • Pair of Jacks or Better – 1 x Bet

This table applies to the full pay Jacks or Better video poker machines, while some other machines pay lower for flush and full house and are called half pay machines. When playing online, finding the full pay casino should not be too hard and should always be pursued.
The game in essence is very simple, and only gives the casino an edge of under 0.50%. However in order to make the edge so low, player must play a perfect strategy. Otherwise, casino edge can greatly increase, so learning what combinations to keep and what to discard is crucial to success at this game.

Jacks Or Better Playing Tips

To make the best of Jacks or Better, you will have to play a perfect strategy. This will mean always keeping the best possible cards in your hand to have the highest possible chance of winning the best payout. Fortunately, the perfect Jacks or Better strategy is not that hard and you can actually use this article at all times to make perfect decisions.
The perfect strategy for Jacks or Better includes always keeping the highest combination from the following list that you have:

  1. Completer royal flush, quads or straight flush
  2. Four to a royal flush
  3. Flush, straight, full house or trips
  4. Four to a straight flush
  5. Two pair
  6. Pair of jacks or better
  7. Three to a royal flush
  8. Four to a flush
  9. Pair of tens or lower
  10. Four to an open ended straight
  11. Two suited cards, jacks or better
  12. Three towards a straight flush
  13. Two off suite cards jacks or better
  14. Suited T and K or T and Q or T and J
  15. Single jack or better
  16. Discard all cards

Following this simple chart is all the strategy you need. Here is an example: Let us say your cards combination is 4h, 4d, 4s, 5s, 6s. In this case you have three to a straight flush, but also trip fours. Since trips are in number three on the chart and three to a straight flush are in number 12, you will keep the trips and discard the 5s and 6s. It’s really as simple as that.

Jacks Or Better Pros and Cons

Jacks or Better is literally the casino game with the lowest casino edge, provided you are playing a full pay machine and playing the perfect strategy. This means you will have the highest possible chance of winning compared to all other casino games and makes it the game to play.
However, Jacks or Better and video poker games in general are sometimes deemed somewhat boring and mundane by many players, especially those of the new generations as the often feature somewhat boring graphics and sounds as well as repetitive gameplay.
If you are a patient player in it to win some money, you should definitely look into Jacks or Better. If on the other hand you are after huge jackpots and exciting gameplay, Jacks or Better may not be the very best game for you.
If you are ready to get started with Jacks or Better, register with one of our recommended Canadian casinos, take full advantage of the huge casino bonuses on offer and start winning with our perfect strategy today.
If Jacks or better is not your bag, check out how to play double double bonus video poker instead.

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Last Updated: March 25, 2019