The Video poker strategy card for jacks or better. Use the free card as a reference to decide how many cards to throw away to maximize your chances of winning. Also check out our Texas Hold em Poker Strategy Card. Two versions for. FREE Video Poker Strategy Charts Listed below are links for video poker strategy charts. Winward casino no deposit bonus. You can print them out and take them with you to the casino so you know. Jacks or Better Strategy & Rules Guide Also known simply as 'draw poker', Jacks or Better is perhaps the most well-known video poker game out there. In 2020, this classic title is experiencing a spike in popularity at online casino sites, where savvy players are lining their pockets with real money.
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Understanding Penalty Cards
By Henry Tamburin
Penalty cards are a controversial topic amongst video poker players (and writers). Some say it’s important to include penalty cards into your playing strategy while others say it’s “not worth it.” Before I add my two cents to this ongoing disagreement, let me first explain what they are, and show you a few sample hands of how penalty cards can affect your playing strategy.
A “penalty card’ is a card in your initially dealt hand that if you were to discard it, it would adversely affect the expected value of your draw. If this sounds Greek to you, stay with me and I’ll show you with some sample hands what this means.
Look at the following two hands. The game is Jacks or Better. How would you play each hand?
Jh Ks 6d 5h 10h
Jh Ks 6d 5s 10h
As I discussed in my column in last month’s issue of Strictly Slots, the basic playing strategy for both hands is to hold the J-10 of hearts and draw three new cards. However, when you take into consideration penalty cards, a better play for the top hand is to hold the unsuited J-K. Here’s why.
If you look carefully at both hands, the composition of the cards is the same except the top hand contains a 5 of hearts while the bottom hand contains a five of spades. The five of hearts in the top hand is known as a “flush penalty card” because if you were to discard it, it would decrease your chance of getting a flush on the draw (because you discarded a card in the suit that you need in order to get a flush on the draw when you hold the suited J-10). In other words, the presence of the flush penalty card decreases the value of holding the J-10 of hearts just enough so that the unsuited J-K becomes a slightly better hold; therefore, the 5 of hearts is a flush penalty card to the J-10 of hearts.
Here’s another example of a hand that contains a flush penalty card.
Ad Ks Qh Jh 2h
The basic playing strategy is to hold the suited Q-J of hearts over holding all four high cards (A-K-Q-J). However, the 2 of hearts is a penalty card that decreases the value of the suited J-Q. (Can you see why?) Therefore, a better hold for this hand is to hold the A-K-Q-J.
Sometimes a hand can have a flush and straight penalty. For example, how would you play this hand?
Kd 10d 2h 9s 6d
The basic playing strategy is to hold suited K-10 over just holding a K. However, when you hold the K-10 of diamonds and discard the 6 of diamonds, you reduce the possibility of ending up with a paying flush. Likewise, when you discard the 9, you reduce the possibility of getting the straight 9-10-J-Q-K. Therefore, the penalty card strategy for this hand is this: If the hand contains both a flush penalty card anda 9 straight penalty card, hold the K (over suited K-10).
Some video poker games have very few penalty-card hands while others have more. For example, the advanced playing strategy contained on the popular Dancer/Daily strategy card for 9/6 and 8/6 Jacks or Better lists six holds involving a penalty card strategy (see below for a summary of four of these holds).
HOLD | BASIC STRATEGY | PENALTY-CARD STRATEGY |
Suited K-10 | Hold K-10 over K | Hold K when both flush and 9 straight penalty |
Suited Q-10 with unsuited A | Hold suited Q-10 | Hold unsuited A-Q when flush penalty |
Suited J-10 with unsuited K | Hold suited J-10 | Hold unsuited K-J when flush penalty |
A-K-Q-J where only Q-J is suited | Hold suited Q-J | Hold A-K-Q-J when flush or straight penalty |
In some situations, penalty cards affect the Expected Value (EV) of the game enough to alter the strategy but in other situations, the gain in EV is relatively small. Also, keep this in mind: playing strategies that include penalty cards are usually more difficult to master for most players compared to the basic playing strategy.
My recommendation on penalty cards is this: If you are a high-stakes player ($1 denomination and up), and you play a lot of video poker, than you should consider learning penalty card strategies for your favorite game. Likewise, if you are the type of player that strives for perfection, than you’ll achieve the maximum EV by learning the penalty card strategies. For all other recreational players, using the basic playing strategy accurately when you play should suffice (although learning the above penalty card strategies for Jacks or Better, for example, is not that difficult to master).
Tip
The Video Poker for Winners training software has a unique feature that allows you to list all the penalty card situations for a game. You select whatever game you are interested in analyzing (click on Games button, top right), then at the top of the page click ANALYZE, and then in the drop menu click on STRATEGY and then SHOW REPORT. You’ll see a table that shows the (basic) strategy play and corresponding perfect play (i.e., penalty card strategies) for different hands, how many times the hand occurs, and the total value of the difference between the basic strategy vs. penalty card (i.e., perfect hand) strategy.
The Video Poker for Winners training software has a unique feature that allows you to list all the penalty card situations for a game. You select whatever game you are interested in analyzing (click on Games button, top right), then at the top of the page click ANALYZE, and then in the drop menu click on STRATEGY and then SHOW REPORT. You’ll see a table that shows the (basic) strategy play and corresponding perfect play (i.e., penalty card strategies) for different hands, how many times the hand occurs, and the total value of the difference between the basic strategy vs. penalty card (i.e., perfect hand) strategy.
Table Of Contents
- This article is for those who don't know how to play Jacks or Better video Poker
- Read the best Jacks or Better strategy tips before you play real money games
Today, I am going to share some useful Jacks or Better video poker strategy tips that will help you increase your win rate and enjoy more this exciting casino game.
Did you know that video poker has the highest payout percentage of all casino games?
While the house edge for typical casino games varies between 90 and 97 percent, video poker can offer up to 99.54 percent.
But only if you know what you're doing.
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And for that, you need a good video poker strategy.
In this article, we will delve into my favorite variation of video poker - Jacks or Better (Draw Poker). I like it because of how simple and straightforward the game is.
(Another great game to play is Deuces Wild, but we'll keep that to another article.)
To play successfully (aka. to win), a sound Jacks or Better strategy is a must.
That's why today you are going to find out a few important things like:
- how to reduce the house edge
- how to make the best out of the cards you get
- how to maximize your chances to win
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The Importance of Poker Hands at Jacks or Better Strategy
If you want to become good at Jacks or Better video poker, you need to understand its card combinations.
It comes without saying that you must know the basic video poker rules for a solid start, and I recommend this article for that.
Now, let's check out the possible poker hands that result in winnings.
- Royal Flush. It can't get any better than that. This hand has to include these cards: . Most games don't require them to be consecutive. All cards must be in the same suit.
- Straight Flush. Five consecutive cards from the same suit. Example:.
- Four of a Kind. Nothing complicated here: four cards of the same value. Example: .
- Full House. You collect Full House when you receive five cards that are comprised of one pair and three of a kind. Example: .
- Flush. Five cards of the same suit. Example:
- Straight. Five cards that form a consecutive sequence. The suits are mixed.
- Three of a Kind. You get Three of a Kind when you receive three cards of the same value. Example: .
- Two Pair. Two pairs of two cards of the same value. Example: .
- Jacks or Better. The easiest one to collect, this combination includes only one pair of jacks or a higher value. Example:
Suit abbreviations:
Spades (s)
Hearts (h)
Diamonds (d)
Clubs (c)
Hearts (h)
Diamonds (d)
Clubs (c)
Don't worry if you can't remember them all - these video Poker machines online include a table with the winning combinations and payouts.
And if you really want to go deeper on the subjects, here's the most complete poker hands chart on the internet.
The most important thing is to choose the casinos with the highest payment possibilities.
Tip: If a game has full payouts, it should pay two times your bet for Two Pairs.
How to Actually Play Jacks or Better Poker
If you've ever played Jacks or Better, you know that this is a casino game that depends on both luck and your choices - a characteristic, this one, that is common to all online poker machines.
It goes like this:
You get five cards and must choose the ones that you want to keep for the next round. You click 'deal', and get your final combination.
The problem is:
Which cards should you hold?
Luckily, this choice is not as difficult as it might seem. Below, I prepared an easy Jacks or Better strategy for beginners that you should use when dealing with your cards.
Jacks or Better Strategy Made Easy
Here are the main tips for a basic Jacks or Better poker strategy:
9 6 Jacks Or Better Strategy Card
- When you have four cards to a Straight or a Flush, hold all four of them and draw only one additional card.
- When you have three cards to a Royal Flush, keep them! Draw two additional cards and you might be lucky.
- Need only two more cards for a Straight Flush? Hold the three lucky cards you have and draw two more.
- When you get a pair of cards, hold them and draw three additional cards. However, this tip is not always applicable.
- If you have no matching cards in your hand, hold a card that is higher or equal of value to Jacks.
- No combinations and no Jacks or higher? Draw five new cards.
The Problem of Low Pair Vs. High Pair
A couple of the main questions that most video poker players have are as follows:
When is it best to hold a low pair?
When should I hold a high pair?
When should I hold a high pair?
Let's take a look at what you should do in different situations.
Jacks or Better Poker Strategy: Low Pair
Usually, I suggest you keep all the low pairs you receive. However, there are certain situations when it's better to skip them.
This is when you should keep a low pair:
- When you have four to a Straight, always keep the pair that you got. Example: 55678. In this case, hold 55 and discard 678.
- When you have three to a Straight Flush, keep the low pair. Example: 3h4h5h5s9c. Hold 5h and 5s.
- When you have a low pair and two cards that could result in a Royal Flush… you should still hold the low pair! Example: 6s6h2cKhAh. Hold 6s and 6h and discard the rest.
Here are the cases when you should discard your low pair:
- When you have three to a Royal Flush. The probability to get the best outcome is simply too high to keep the low pair. Example: 2sJhJsQsKs
- In case you have four to a Flush, break that low pair! Example: 5d5h8d9dQd
Jacks or Better Game Strategy: High Pair
The crucial difference between a low pair and a high pair in video poker is that the latter is a guaranteed win.
However, there will be certain situations when you'll think that you need to break the pair for a bigger win.
BUT - a seemingly right decision can cost you your bet.
Here are the cases when you have to keep your high poker pair no matter what.
Note: A high pair consists of two cards of the same value (Jacks or higher).
- If you have four to a Flush and a high pair, hold the pair and draw three other cards. When an identical situation occurs with a low pair in hand, you should break it.
- When you have four to a Straight, keep your high pair to have a higher chance to win.
- If you have three to a Royal Flush, it is still better to hold the pair! The odds to get a Royal Flush are not high enough in this case.
- It's more beneficial to keep the high pair when you have three to a Straight Flush. Over time, this will produce better results.
On the contrary, there is one case when you should break your high pay in Jacks or Better poker game:
- When you have four to a Royal Flush. In this situation, it would be a waste not to do it as the odds are simply too high for that sweet winning sequence!
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Note: As soon as you decide to use a video poker game strategy, stick to it. Whether you play online or at a land-based casino, discipline is your truest friend when it comes to beating Jacks or Better.
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