Jacks or Better Guide
Jacks or Better is the most common video poker game in the world, online or offline. Besides being popular, Jacks or Better also happens to be one of the simplest and best paying video poker variations out there (as long as it is full pay). This article will discuss various Jacks or Better pay tables/rules, Jacks or Better strategy, and will recommend an online casino for playing Jacks or Better.
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Jacks or Better Rules
Jacks or Better is definitely the simplest video poker game out there. To play Jacks or Better, you insert your money into the machine, decide how many credits you'd like to bet per hand, and click "Deal." After that you select which cards you'd like to keep, and then click "Draw." If the draw gives you a pair of Jacks or better, you'll receive a payout. That's why the game is called "Jacks or Better." Learn more about how to play video poker.
Pay Tables
There are quite a few pay tables that are used for Jacks or Better machines. These range from full pay games to low pay games.
Jacks or Better Full Pay
"Full pay" refers to the maximum payout for a specific video poker game. In Jacks or Better, full pay games pay out 9x for a full house and 6x for a flush. Keep in mind that "full pay" doesn't necessarily mean the game is beat-able, rather it means that the game is using the most favorable pay table. Here is the full table for a full pay Jacks or Better game:
| Hand: | 1 Coin: | 2 Coins: | 3 Coins: | 4 Coins: | 5 Coins: |
| Royal Flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 50 | 75 | 100 | 125 |
| Full House | 9 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 45 |
| Flush | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 30 |
| Straight | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Pair (Jacks or Better) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
We always recommend playing full pay Jacks or Better because it is the most favorable version of Jacks or Better for the player. If you want to play full pay Jacks or Better online, make sure to check out Bovada Casino as they're one of the few casinos that offer the game.
Jacks or Better Low Pay
"Low pay" refers to any Jacks or Better game that uses a pay table other than full pay. Low pay games usually cut the payouts for full houses and flushes, which significantly reduces the payout percentage for the individual machine.
A few common low pay games include 8/6 Jacks or Better, 8/5 Jacks or Better, and even 6/5 Jacks or Better, which is a real sucker's bet. We ALWAYS suggest playing full pay games. For more info on this subject, read our Jacks or Better Pay Tables article.
Jacks or Better Strategy
If you want to have the best shot of making money while playing Jacks or Better, you need to be using perfect strategy. Perfect strategy is a topic of its own, so we have a separate page here: Jacks or Better Strategy. We'll give you a few quick tips to increase your odds at the Jacks or Better machine:
- Keep four to a flush over a pair. It is a better move to go for the flush than to keep the pair and hope to improve.
- If you have garbage, keep the high cards. It is a better move to keep a Jack, a Queen, a King, or an Ace than to discard all of your cards because you have the possibility of pairing them and making a Jacks or better pair.
- If you have four to an inside straight (meaning that you need to hit a single card to complete the straight) you should only keep the four cards if at least three of them are a Jack or higher.
- Keep four to a royal flush over a pat straight or a pat flush. It is worth giving up the small payouts in pursuit of the huge one.
Jacks or Better Online
If you're interested in playing Jacks or Better online for real
money, there really is only one option that makes sense:
Bovada.com. Bovada is one of the few online casinos that offer full
pay Jacks or Better, so if you want the best possible odds you need
to be playing there.
Plus, Bovada is currently offering a 10% unlimited deposit bonus for all players who sign up through this special link.
