Jacks or Better Pay Table Analysis
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Jacks or Better is the oldest video poker game out there, and really is the game that started it all. Jacks or Better started out with almost exclusively full pay 9/6 pay tables, but now casinos have gotten a little greedier and are for the most part only offering low pay games. This article analyzes quite a few Jacks or Better pay tables, and determines the maximum payout percentage for each table (if you're using expert Jacks or Better strategy).
We'll start by providing an overview of each major Jacks or Better pay table, and show you the payout percentages for each game assuming you're playing five coins and using perfect strategy. Here they are:
| Pay Table | Payout Percentage |
| Full Pay (9/6) Jacks or Better | 99.54% |
| 9/5 Jacks or Better | 98.45% |
| 8/6 Jacks or Better | 98.39% |
| 8/5 Jacks or Better | 97.30% |
| 7/5 Jacks or Better | 96.15% |
| 6/5 Jacks or Better | 95.00% |
Full Pay (9/6) Jacks or Better - 99.54%
Full pay Jacks or Better is the best pay table you can find, and it pays out a maximum of 99.54% if you are using perfect strategy and making the right moves every time. Please remember that in the long run you're at a statistical disadvantage no mater how well you play. Here's the full pay Jacks or Better pay table:
| Hand | Payout |
| Royal Flush | 800 |
| Straight Flush | 50 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 |
| Full House | 9 |
| Flush | 6 |
| Straight | 4 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 |
| Two Pair | 2 |
| Pair (Jacks or Better) | 1 |
Please note that the above pay table is for players betting five coins, and thus receiving the bonus for making a royal flush.
9/5 Jacks or Better - 98.45%
9/5 Jacks or Better is the next best Jacks or Better game after full pay Jacks or Better. The Flush payout is reduced from 6x to 5x, and since Flushes are fairly common hands in Jacks or Better that shaves over 1% off of the long run payout percentage.
| Hand | Payout |
| Royal Flush | 800 |
| Straight Flush | 50 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 |
| Full House | 9 |
| Flush | 5 |
| Straight | 4 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 |
| Two Pair | 2 |
| Pair (Jacks or Better) | 1 |
Please note that the above pay table is for players betting five coins, and thus receiving the bonus for making a royal flush.
8/6 Jacks or Better - 98.39%
8/6 Jacks or Better is extremely close to 9/5 Jacks or Better as far as payout percentages goes. In 8/6 Jacks or Better, Full Houses pay 8x and Flushes pay 6x. Here is the full 8/6 Jacks or Better pay table:
| Hand | Payout |
| Royal Flush | 800 |
| Straight Flush | 50 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 |
| Full House | 8 |
| Flush | 6 |
| Straight | 4 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 |
| Two Pair | 2 |
| Pair (Jacks or Better) | 1 |
Please note that the above pay table is for players betting five coins, and thus receiving the bonus for making a royal flush.
8/5 Jacks or Better - 97.30%
8/5 Jacks or Better is a very common variation of Jacks or Better that reduces the payout percentage to 97.30% - 2.24% worse than a full pay machine. Payouts for Full Houses and Flushes are reduced to 8x and 5x. Here's he 8/5 Jacks or Better pay table:
| Hand | Payout |
| Royal Flush | 800 |
| Straight Flush | 50 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 |
| Full House | 8 |
| Flush | 5 |
| Straight | 4 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 |
| Two Pair | 2 |
| Pair (Jacks or Better) | 1 |
Please note that the above pay table is for players betting five coins, and thus receiving the bonus for making a royal flush.
7/5 Jacks or Better - 96.15%
7/5 Jacks or Better is another common Jacks or Better pay table, and it really reduces the payout percentage because the Full House payout is cut even more. We don't suggest playing this game, because you can usually find at least 8/5 Jacks or Better online or at a casino.
| Hand | Payout |
| Royal Flush | 800 |
| Straight Flush | 50 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 |
| Full House | 7 |
| Flush | 5 |
| Straight | 4 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 |
| Two Pair | 2 |
| Pair (Jacks or Better) | 1 |
Please note that the above pay table is for players betting five coins, and thus receiving the bonus for making a royal flush.
6/5 Jacks or Better - 95.00%
6/5 Jacks or Better is one of the worst Jacks or Better games out there. Full House payouts are cut even further, and since a full house is a semi-common hand in Jacks or Better it really hurts the overall pay percentage for the machine. Here's the 6/5 Jacks or Better pay table:
| Hand | Payout |
| Royal Flush | 800 |
| Straight Flush | 50 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 |
| Full House | 6 |
| Flush | 5 |
| Straight | 4 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 |
| Two Pair | 2 |
| Pair (Jacks or Better) | 1 |
Please note that the above pay table is for players betting five coins, and thus receiving the bonus for making a royal flush.
The pay tables above are the most common tables used for Jacks or Better video poker games. You may find some other obscure variations of Jacks or Better, but they're pretty rare in Vegas or online. The important lesson here is that since you can find full pay Jacks or Better, you never should play anything less than full pay machines.
Also make sure to note that the pay tables used above all assume that you're playing five coins per hand. Every Jacks or Better game provides a Royal Flush bonus for players who are playing five coins, and that is a significant portion of the expected return for the game. If you are playing full pay Jacks or Better but only betting four coins per hand, for example, your payout percentage will fall over 1% as compared to playing five coins per hand!
