How To Play Jacks Or Better

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In fact, Jacks or Better is the most popular version of video poker in the world. It is so popular because it is simple to play and a lot of fun. It is also popular because the game offers much better odds for the player than slot machines or table games. The house edge is only 0.5% for a player that uses the optimal strategy on a Jacks. Here’s a jacks or better strategy chart you can use any time you play. The correct way to use this chart is to start at the top and go down until you find a hand that matches yours. Then hold the listed hand and discard everything else. Rule # 1 – Always bet five coins per hand.

Jacks or Better is played as a five card draw game. In this version, betting is not allowed to open until at least one player at the table can open betting with a pair of Jacks or better.

Instructions & Rules for Jacks or Better

To begin playing Jacks or Better each player is required to ante. The dealer will then deal out five cards down to each player. Each player will have the chance to look at their cards and decide if they are able to open the betting round. Remember a pair of jacks is required to play.

If nobody at the table has at least a pair of Jacks, each player will muck their hand, ante again and the dealer will deal another five cards face down. On this round a pair of Queens or better is required in order to open up betting. If nobody can open, cards will be mucked, players will again ante, and each player will receive five new cards face down. This will continue with Kings or better, followed by Aces or better and back to Jacks or better until one player is able to open with the minimum requirements.

How

Once a player is able to open they have the option to bet or check. Each player who remains in the hand will have the option to draw as many cards as they want up to five. Once the draw is complete a final betting round will take place, followed by the showdown. The player with the best five card poker hand wins the pot.

To Summarize;

  • Each person antes into the pot.
  • The dealer will deal each player 5 cards face down.
  • A betting round will take place only if someone is able to open with a pair of Jacks.
  • No jacks, no hand. Hands are mucked and players ante again.
  • If a player opens, the rest of the hand will be played as 5 card draw.
  • The best poker hand wins.
  • Next round will require a pair of Queens or better to open the betting round.

Variations of Jacks or Better and Strategy

This game can be played so many different ways. To make it a bit more difficult you can add “legs” which means a player has to win so many rounds before they can take the pot. When a leg is added, it’s best to remember to control the pot as best as possible. You don’t want to bet huge on the first round when you’re on your first leg as the game can change quickly. Another version of the game can be played where if no one has a pair of Jacks or better, the game is then played as lowball.

Tip – If one of the players is able to open betting, your hand should be able to improve for you to call the bet. The only time you’d play and draw all five cards is when you’re down to your last leg and need the win.

Basic Game Play

Jacks or Better is a very popular video poker game, which many players finds fun because of its high payouts and its easy game play. To play jacks or better doesn't take a whole lot from you, no matter if it is in a live casino or if you are sitting at home in front of your computer playing it.

When you are ready to play you insert credits, choose the amount of credits you wish to bet and press the 'deal' button and five different cards will then appear on the screen of the machine or your computer. Your objective with these five cards is to form the best possible hand according to regular poker hand rankings, but in order to get a payout you will need to get a pair of jacks or better, hence the name.

The first five cards that appears on the machine or your screen can then be chosen to be 'held', which means that when you press deal for the second and last time, those cards will not change. This can be useful if you already have a pair of kings for example, making the chance of you hitting three of a kind or a better hand even bigger.

Once you have decided if you want to hold any cards or not, you simply press deal again and the machine will give you new cards on the cards you did not hold. Once the cards appears the machine will instantly show you if you have won a prize or not and pay you accordingly. A very simple and fun game to play both in live casinos and online.

Rules

The rules of the game are very simple. All you need to be aware of is how many credits you will be betting in each hand, try and form a hand that is a pair of jacks or better and the machine will take care of the rest for you.

There are two rounds of cards in jacks or better, the first round you can hold cards and the second round is known as a showdown round. You can only hold cards after the cards are dealt the first time, the second time there is no holding or changing any cards. Some jacks or better machines comes with bonus games where you can choose to try and double your prize by guessing if the next card will be higher or lower than the card shown on the machine, but in general this is not something that we recommend to do as it provides a lower payout in general.

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Hand Rankings

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The hand rankings system used in jacks or better is the same as used in regular Texas Hold'em poker and five card draw games. Below you will find a chart of how the hand ranking system works exactly, if you are not familiar with the ranking system already:

How To Play Jacks Or Better Card Game

  • High Card - When you have nothing on your hand, the highest card is the one that counts
  • One Pair - Any two cards that are of the same denomination
  • Two Pairs - Any two sets of cards with the same denomination
  • Three of a kind - When you have three cards with the same denomination
  • Straight - Five cards that are in sequence, no matter which suit they have
  • Flush - Five cards of the same suit, no matter which denomination they have
  • Full House - Three cards of one denomination and two cards of another denomination
  • Straight Flush - Five cards in sequence all of the same suit
  • Royal Flush - Best possible poker hand that exists. The hand is where you have ace to ten straight all in the same suit.

What is important to remember here is that high card doesn't provide a prize and that one pair only gives a prize if the pair is of jacks or better.

Play

Payouts

The payouts for playing jacks or better are in general the same for most casinos, however it may vary some places. The general payouts are as shown below:

  • One Pair of Jacks or Better Pays 1:1
  • Two Pairs Pays 2:1
  • Three of a Kind Pays 3:1
  • Straight Pays 4:1
  • Flush Pays 6:1
  • Full House Pays 9:1
  • Four of a Kind Pays 25:1
  • Straight Flush Pays 50:1
  • Royal Flush Pays 250:1

Always remember to check if the payouts are better, the same or worse than the scheme above, so you know if you should play jacks or better on the site you are currently on, or change to a site that offers higher payouts as it matters for your odds of winning in the game.