Jacks or Better Video Poker

Jacks or Better is the most basic video poker variation available today and is likely the basis for many of the other variants currently in circulation.

The game doesn’t include multipliers or bonuses like many newer games, making it an easy introduction for the video poker beginner while still having fans who are veterans to the game.

Every Michigan online casino will likely offer Jacks or Better, and we’ve developed a guide to help you with the rules, strategies and information on where you can play.

Jacks or Better Rules

Jacks or Better uses a standard 52-card deck with no joker or wildcards. Each round begins with you receiving a five-card hand before deciding which you will hold and discard. Once you’ve made your decision, you can select the draw option and you’ll get new cards in place of those you chose not to hold.

If you end up with a pair of jacks or better, you’ll get yourself a payout, and the higher the level of your hand means a larger amount of money. Take a royal flush, for example, which offers the highest prize of 4,000 coins when you use a five-coin bet.

Betting

Jacks or Better lets players risk between one and five coins per hand. A five-coin bet gives players access to the highest-available Return to Player (RTP) percentage, which we’ll cover later.

Some Michigan online casinos allow players to adjust the coin denomination, which means you could potentially increase the amount each coin is worth for your bets. Typically, your choices will fall between the lowest coin amount of 5 cents up to $1.

That gives you a range between a single-coin wager of 5 cents, up to a five-coin wager of $5.

Available Buttons

Michigan online casinos give Jacks or Better players the following options:

• Bet One – Add a single coin to a wager.
• Bet Max – Automatically bet five coins.
• Coin denomination – Change the coin value.
• Number of hands – Adjust the number of hands in play (multi-hand games).
• Info screen – Shows the rules for Jacks or Better.
• Speed – Adjust the speed at which cards are dealt.

How to Play Jacks or Better

Jacks or Better is one of the easiest video poker variations to play. It offers simple rules and a basic playing process.

It’s all simple. You select the number of coins you want to bet and the denomination (if adjustable) and then select the deal option. Choose which cards to hold and to discard and draw to replace them and complete the hand.

The software will determine if you have a win, which starts at a pair of jacks and up.

Jacks or Better Pay Tables

Michigan online casinos will soon be available to residents who are 21 years or older and who are within state lines. The casinos will offer different pay tables, which means you should do a little research before you start betting real money.

The most common differences in Jacks or Better games involve how much they pay for a full house and flush.

The 9/6 version, for example, pays nine coins for a full house and six for a flush and the 9/5 pay table offers nine and five, respectively.

Here are potential Jacks or Better pay tables found in Michigan’s internet gaming market:

Payouts on 9/6 Jacks or Better

Payouts 9/5 Jacks or Better Pay Table

Payouts 8/6 Jacks or Better Pay Table

Is Jacks or Better Unique in Any Way?

Jacks or Better may be the most basic type of video poker but it does differ from other games.

First off, it features one of the lowest pay requirements thanks to only needing to hold a pair of jacks to win.

Variations with wildcards and bonus hands, meanwhile, typically force you to hold stronger hands before receiving payouts. Deuces Wild, for example, only pays for a three-of-a-kind or better.

Why Players Should Bet Five Coins

You should strongly consider wagering five coins on each hand so you can achieve the maximum payback on any winning hand. Each pay table sees the royal flush payout increase by 250 coins for every coin added to a bet up to four coins.

But the royal flush prize jumps from 1,000 credits on a four-coin wager to 4,000 credits on a five-coin bet. This increase adds approximately 2% to the overall RTP.

Of course, this RTP boost is only theoretical until you hit on a royal flush, and the odds of that are around 1 in 40,000. But don’t let that dissuade you — your payouts on every other winning hand will also be higher with the larger wager amount.

Jacks or Better RTP

The RTP for Jacks or Better varies based on the specific pay table, which can be different depending on which Michigan online casino you’re playing at. The key is to look at the full house and flush payouts, as any change there will affect the overall RTP.

Here’s the RTP for each table:

• 9/6 Jacks or Better = 99.54% RTP
• 9/5 Jacks or Better = 98.45% RTP
• 8/6 Jacks or Better = 98.39% RTP

A one-coin difference here or there doesn’t seem like it makes a big impact but you should consider that full houses and flushes occur frequently enough that there will be a noticeable impact on the payback.

This aspect can especially be seen when the full house payout drops by one coin and the RTP lowers by 1.15% when comparing the 9/6 pay table to the 8/6.

Jacks or Better Strategy

Video poker strategy is more complex than what’s seen with most casino games. Even Jacks or Better, which is simpler than most variations, features extensive strategy.

Thankfully you can learn proper strategy rather quickly with the help of a strategy chart. A simple Jacks or Better strategy, which leads to 99.46% RTP, is just 0.08% off the optimal payback. Advanced strategy, however, can attain a full 99.54% RTP.

We’ll break those down for you.

Simple Jacks or Better Strategy

Here are the hands you should always hold on to, ranked by what you have and what you should hold. It ranges from the obvious hold on any royal flush, straight flush or four-of-a-kind, and goes all the way down to holding onto a single high card if you’ve no other options.

• Royal flush, straight flush, four-of-a-kind
• Four cards to a royal flush
• Full house, flush, straight, three-of-a-kind
• Four cards to a straight flush
• Two pair
• High pair (aces to jacks)
• Three cards to a royal flush
• Four cards to a flush
• Low pair (10s or lower)
• Four cards to an outside straight
• Two unsuited high cards
• Suited king and 10, queen and 10 or jack and 10
• One high card

Advanced Jacks or Better Strategy

This is the same concept as above, just a bit more advanced.

• Royal flush, straight flush, four-of-a-kind
• Four cards to a royal flush
• Full house, flush, straight, three-of-a-kind
• Four cards to a straight flush
• Two pair
• High pair (aces to jacks)
• Three cards to a royal flush
• Four cards to a flush
• Unsuited king, queen, jack and 10
• Low pair
• Four cards to an outside straight with zero to two high cards
• Three cards to a straight flush
• Suited queen and jack
• Four cards to an inside straight with four high cards
• Suited king and queen or king and jack
• Suited ace and king, ace and queen or ace and jack
• Four cards to an inside straight with three high cards
• Three cards to a straight flush
• Unsuited king, queen and jack
• Unsuited queen and jack
• Suited jack and 10
• Two unsuited high cards wing a king high card
• Suited queen and 10
• Two unsuited high cards with an ace high card
• Jack only
• Suited king and 10
• Queen, king or ace only
• Three cards to a straight flush

Other Ways to Learn Jacks or Better Strategy

Strategy charts aren’t the only ways to improve at this game. Here we have listed some additional methods you can use to better your skills.

Free Video Poker

Every Michigan online casino will likely offer free video poker. You just need to complete registration to take advantage of the free version when the time comes.

Upon doing so, you will have access to free Jacks or Better and other video poker games. You can use this version to practice without risking real money. To help yourself learn quickly, use a strategy chart like the one we provided above in tandem with the free video poker.

You can refer to your chart before each decision in the beginning. As your skills improve, you’ll be able to make decisions without consulting the chart every time.

Jacks or Better Trainers

A video poker trainer offers helpful suggestions as you play the game and helps identify mistakes and points out good decisions.

Here’s an example:

• You receive an ace of clubs, a 10 of clubs, an ace of spades, a four of diamonds and a six of hearts.
• You keep the ace of clubs, the 10 of clubs and the ace of spades.
• The trainer points out that you should only hold the aces.

Sometimes, video poker players make the same mistakes repeatedly without realizing it, developing bad habits along the way. A trainer will help you identify those mistakes, and helps you learn how to make choices to increase your odds of winning.

Companies also sell more advanced programs that allow you to customize pay tables, but you don’t need to invest in them just to practice and learn Jacks or Better. Save some money and use the free trainers that you can find online.

Jacks or Better History

Laying the Ground Work

Video poker has been around in its current form for decades and clearly sprouted from the traditional game of poker, which is said to have been invented by gamblers in the United States during the early to mid-19th century, though no one knows an exact date or inventor.

The first known reference to poker was in 1834 when writer J.H. Green, who also liked to gamble, compared the game to three-card monte. The game grew in popularity and spread across the United States and eventually the world.

What About Video Poker?

“Si” Redd is credited for taking poker off the felt and popularizing the machine-based game. Redd bought the rights to video poker in the mid-1970s after casinos had dismissed it as a failed game.

He saw potential in the game and surmised it could be popular if improvements were made beyond the monitor hooked to a computer setup. Redd’s company, SIRCOMA, improved on the design, upgraded the format, and began shipping units to casinos.

Gamblers took note, began playing on the machines, and the popularity boomed. Redd’s company went public and changed its name to International Game Technology — or IGT for short — and is now the largest producer of video poker games in the world.