Jacks Or Better Video Poker Strategy
Jacks or Better Cheat Sheet
Welcome to Video Poker Genius! This is part 1 of a series of videos designed to help you become a better video poker player.In this part, I play 100 practice. Video Poker is one of the few games at a casino where strategy plays a big role. You can use our trainer to learn the best play for every hand increasing the chance you will have a positive result. To get started, first select the Game that you would like to play. The Video Poker Trainer defaults to Jacks or Better with the 9/6 payout table. In the Jacks or Better variation, the high face card would win, as doubles of anything from a pair of 10's and worse are counted as singles. As with all poker variations, each has its own strategy. An opening holder of a pair of low cards should hold these in favor over single face cards, as three of even a low card will still beat a pair of.
Jacks or Better: The Bottom Line. Jacks or Better is a simple and basic video poker variant. It is great for online video poker players looking to get their feet wet, learn the basics of betting, and looking to become more experienced at utilizing basic strategy in their play. Jacks or Better is a video poker game where the lowest paying hand is a pair of jacks. In Jacks or Better strategy, the aim is to at least have two Jacks in your hand or better, hence the name Jacks or Better. It follows rules similar to five card draw poker. In Jacks or Better, or any other video poker.
Have you ever been playing video poker and wondered “should I keep this flush or take the risk and go for the straight flush?” This Jacks or Better strategy card will be your new best friend.
How to Use the Jacks or Better Strategy Card
Video poker is always played the same way. You are dealt 5 cards (your starting hand). You tgeb choose which ones of the 5 you wish to keep, and then receive new cards to replace the ones you decided to discard.
When you download the cheat sheet, you will see that it is basically a list of possible starting hands labeled 1 – 16. These hands are ordered from the best (number 1) to worst (number 16) possible starting hands.
When you sit down to a new game of Jacks or Better video poker, have your strategy card ready. When you are dealt your first 5 cards, look to the cheat sheet and find the highest possible hand listed which corresponds to your cards. Choose to keep those cards, and then draw. You will have made the best decision possible given the cards you were dealt.
Real World Video Poker Example
Jacks Or Better Video Poker Strategy Guide
For example, let’s say you are dealt the following hand:
Jacks Or Better Video Poker Strategy Guide
If I look at the strategy card, I see that the best hand I can make out of this is “two suited high cards” using the Jack and the Ace of hearts. Two suited high cards is number 11 on the video poker strategy card.
Let’s look at another example. Let’s say you are dealt the same cards, except the 8 and the 4 aren’t diamonds; instead, they are hearts:
You still have the same Jack and Ace of hearts, but now because you have 4 cards that are hearts, you can now make a hand that is ranked higher on the strategy card than the two suited high cards. If you notice, due to the 4 hearts, you also have a “4 to a flush”, which is number 8 on the video poker strategy card, out-ranking the “two suited high cards”.
Every time that you are dealt your starting hand, simply look to the strategy card and figure out the highest ranking hand you can make with the cards you are dealt. Keep those cards, and you will always have made the highest odds decision given the situation.
Final Thoughts
How has this video poker cheat sheet helped you? What other games do you want a video poker strategy card for? Let me know in the comment section below! Also you can try you new skills on the Planet7oz.org
If you liked this video poker cheat sheet, you may also be interested in online slots versus online video poker, how to double your video poker winnings, video poker myths, the video poker glossary, or video poker risk of ruin.
Jeff White
Jeff has been an active gambler from the age of 18 when he won a small local poker tournament in San Jose, CA. He moved on to playing other casino games shortly thereafter, with a great interest in the statistics and mathematics involved. He has studied the historical gambling systems of nearly every popular casino game played today, and has written strategy books for several of them including blackjack, slot machines, craps, and roulette. Jeff has been a daily contributor to the Silver Oak Casino blog since the beginning of 2009.