Video poker and slot machines have enough similarities that it's easy to assume video poker is a luck-based game, like slots. Video poker machines are in the same part of the casino as the slot machines, and video poker players interact with their machines the same way slot gamblers do. Video poker is similar to slot gaming in some ways, but the game has more substance than slot machine games.
Because video poker is based on five-card draw poker, the game rewards skill. Video poker players make in-game decisions that help determine the outcome of the game.
8/5 Jacks or Better is a very common variation of Jacks or Better that reduces the payout percentage to 97.30% - 2.24% worse than a full pay machine. Payouts for Full Houses and Flushes are reduced to 8x and 5x. Become a pro at Jacks or Better video poker game with this easy-to-follow strategy! Play online for free or for real money and beat the game even if you're a beginner.
It's impossible to evaluate the payout percentage for a slot machine game, because that's determined by the random number generator inside the machine. But video poker odds can be calculated because of the payout table and the odds of hitting various poker hands. Open compressed zip folder. Since a video poker game simulates the actual odds of playing draw poker with a deck of 52 cards, all the information required to calculate the payout percentage is known.
Jacks or Better Pay Tables
Here are many of the common pay tables available on Jacks or Better machines. The best pay table available in many online and land based casinos is the 9 / 6. It's called a 9 / 6 because the full house pays nine and the flush pays six. If a 9 / 6 machine isn't available where you pay we don't recommend playing Jacks or Better.
Jacks Or Better Poker Odds
The way you use the table below is match it with the column under one coin on the machine you're looking at. The only exception is the royal flush. The machine won't show 800 in the first column under royal flush, but the 800 represents the bonus for betting max coins. The royal flush should show 4,000 in the five coin column, or five times 800.
| Game | 9 / 6 | 9 / 5 | 8 / 6 | 8 / 5 | 7 / 5 | 6 / 5 |
| Royal Flush | 800 | 800 | 800 | 800 | 800 | 800 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Full House | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| Flush | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Straight | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Pair Jacks or Better | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| House Edge | .46% | 1.55% | 1.61% | 2.70% | 3.85% | 5.00% |
Notice how a simple change in the pay table changes the house edge. The casinos try to take advantage of players who don't know about pay tables and players who think one number change doesn't change the house edge much.
Jacks or Better Strategy Chart
Here's a jacks or better strategy chart you can use any time you play. The correct way to use this chart is to start at the top and go down until you find a hand that matches yours. Then hold the listed hand and discard everything else.
9 6 Jacks Or Better
Rule # 1 – Always bet five coins per hand.
- Royal flush
- Straight flush
- Four of a kind
- Four to a royal flush
- Full house
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a kind
- Four to a straight flush
- Two pair
- Pair of jacks or better
- Three to a royal flush
- Four to a flush
- Pair of 10's or lower
- Four to an open end straight
- Three to a straight flush with at least as many cards jack and higher than gaps
- Four cards jack and higher
- Two suited cards jack and higher
- Four to an inside straight, with three cards jack or higher
- Three to a straight flush with two gaps and one card jack or higher or with one gap and no high cards
- K Q J suited
- Q J suited
- J T suited
- K Q or K J unsuited
- Q T suited
- A K or A Q or A J unsuited
- K T suited
- One card jack or higher
- Three to a straight flush with two gaps
- Draw five new cards
It might seem like the strategy chart has a great deal you need to remember. But you don't have to memorize it. What is a screen grab. You can use t when you play Jacks or Better online or print out a copy and take it with you to the casino.
You're going to find that once you start using your strategy chart that you're quickly going to memorize the most common plays. If you want to start memorizing the most common plays before you get started here's how to do it.
