Jacks
or Better (Jacks+) Video Poker, a classic version is a good
place to begin your VP education.
This is the game
that started it all and is an ideal game for newbies and veterans alike.
Below is a VP pay
schedule for Jacks or Better.
This paytable illustrates the
payout for specific winning
hands, one coin return payout and maximum coin return payout.
Paytable-Jacks or
Better 9/6
one-coin return
max.coin return
Pair--Jacks or Better
returns
the bet
5 coins
Two pair (2 PR)
Pays
2-1
10 coins
Three-of-a-kind (3/kind)
pays
3-1
15 coins
Straight (ST)
pays
4-1
20 coins
Flush (FL)
pays
6-1
30 coins
Full house (FH)
pays
9-1
45 coins
Four-of-a-kind (any)
pays
25-1
125 coins
Straight
Flush (SF)
pays
50-1
250
coins
Royal flush (RF)
pays
250-1
4000 coins
Jacks
or Better Strategies per pay schedule:
The
ace is not the most
important card. A jack, queen or king will also return your bet when
paired.The
jack, queen or king offers more opportunities to develop
winning hands aroundit
than an ace.
For example, to form a sequence, a jack has
two possibilities — a queenon
one side and a 10 on the other.An
ace, however, has only one possible sequence partner —
the king.
Never
keep a kicker —
that’s an additional face card — with any pair.To
do so
reduces your return by 5%. Let that pair stand and draw 3 cards.
Always
keep a five-card
winning pat hand, with one exception: if you can draw one card to a
Royal Flush.
Don’t
break a flush even
if you can draw one to a straight flush. However, always break a flush
to draw one card to a Royal Flush.
Never
break a straight to
draw to a straight flush. If you have three cards to a flush and no
high cards, draw two cards for the flush.
If you
have four cards in
succession for a straight, draw one card.Four
consecutive cards is called an ‘outside’ straight when
there are two possibilities fora
winning hand at either end.
So, if you have 6, 7, 8, 9,
either a 5 or 10 will payout.An
‘inside’ straight narrows your odds of completing that
straight.For
example, if you have 5, 6, 8, 9—trying for the 7 is
called drawing to an insidestraight,
because the single card you need is on the ‘inside’.Additionally,
draw to an inside straight only if one of the
other cards is a jack orbetter
where you can at least return your bet if you match
that high card.
Keep a
small pair (jacks
or less) for three of a kind.
If all
your cards are 10
or under with no possibility in sight for a winner, it’s best to opt
for five new cards.
20% of all original first hands dealt are winners. Jacks+
Video
Poker will generally hit the Royal Flush each 40,000 hands played, or
every
80-100
hours of play.
As with all Video Poker games, maximum coin play for each
hand is the
best strategy.
Here is a sampling of other VP versions that offer
the Jacks+ as the minimum payout.
Bonus Poker
Double
Bonus
Double
Double Bonus
Triple Bonus
Jackpot Poker, aka, Aces
& Faces.
Lessons for these Video
Poker versions and more are taught at
Gambling Teachers.
Multi-Hand
VP is available for
nearly all versions.
As with standard video poker,
you’re dealt five cards, you may hold from
zero to all five. The cards you keep appear in all the other hands as
you
discard/deal.
Multi-hand VP can feature three, five, ten,
fifty, even one hundred hands
per bet.
