Jacks or Better Video Poker

Jacks or Better Video Poker was not the very first video poker game on the scene, but it was certainly the instigator of video poker’s now enormous fan base. The first video poker games started payouts at Two Pair, but players weren’t very keen on that idea as it was too hard to get a winning combination. Then came Jacks or Better Video Poker…

As the name implies, provoking a payout in Jacks or Better meant achieving a hand of a Pair of Jacks, or anything better (Two Pair, Three of a Kind, Straight, Flush, etc.)

The only real difference in the first Draw Poker game and Jacks or Better was the even money payout for getting a Pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces. In the original version, Two Pair paid 2x your wager. In Jacks or Better, the Two Pair payout is the same, but the even-money payout for a high pair caught on, and suddenly video poker games were gaining quite the popularity in casinos.

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How to Play Jacks or Better Video Poker

Jacks or Better is a simple Draw Poker game. You place a wager of 1 up to 5 coins and draw cards. You decide which of those 5 cards you want to keep. All others will be discarded. All cards that were discarded are then replaced by new cards to reveal your final 5-card poker hand.

If your hand falls within the guidelines of any winning combinations, you are paid an amount equal to your wager, multiplied by its worth on the pay table. If you do not achieve a winning combination, your wager is lost.

Jacks or Better Video Poker – Pay Table

There are generally two types of Jacks or Better video Poker games. One is called 9/6 Jacks or Better, and the other 8/5 Jacks or Better. The 9/6 and 8/5 refer to the way the pay table is designed. You’ll always want to look for 9/6 Jacks or Better, also known as “Full Pay”; somewhat of a video poker bonus in the payout department.

A Full Pay Jacks or Better game awards a 9-to-1 payout for a Full House, and a 6-to-1 payout for a Flush.

In 8/5 Jacks or Better games, a Full House is only worth 8-to-1, and a Flush worth 5-to-1. It may not seem like that much of a difference, but as a player, it is your job to make sure you’re getting the lowest house edge.

A 9/6 Jacks or Better game has a house edge of only 0.5% (payout percentage 99.5%), while the 8/5 version is more than 5x higher at 2.7% house edge (payout percentage 97.3%).

Note: The above Jacks or Better house edge is based on a strict video poker strategy.

We’ll assume you are taking our advice and playing only the 9/6 Full Pay Jacks or Better Video Poker. The pay table for this video poker game should be as follows:

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