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Full Pay Jacks or Better Video Poker |
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| Hand | Payoff |
| 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 |
| Jacks or better | 1 |
The following common terms are mentioned in these video poker strategies.
High card: A jack, queen, king, or ace. These
cards are retained more often because if paired up they return
the original bet.
Outside straight: An open ended straight that can be
completed at either end, such as the cards 7,8,9,10.
Inside straight: A straight with a missing inside card,
such as the cards 6,7,9,10. In addition, A,2,3,4 and
J,Q,K,A also count as inside straights because they are at an
extreme end.
Spread: This refers to the number of ranks spread apart the cards are toward a potential straight, straight flush, or royal flush. The smaller the spread the better the odds are for the video poker player. For example, a suited 5, 6, and 8, would be 3 to a straight flush with a spread of 4 because the cards span 4 ranks.
Gap: The number of ranks needed to fill in the middle of a straight flush. For example, a 6,7,8 would have 0 gaps, a 6,7,9 would have 1 gap, and a 6,7,10 would have 2. The following are considered to have 2 gaps because they are at extreme ends: A,2,3; A,2,4; A,3,4; J,Q,A; J,K,A; and Q,K,A. The following are considered to have 1 gap because they are close to an extreme end: 2,3,4 and J,Q,K.
Penalty card: Sometimes one must discard a potentially useful video poker card. A penalty card is a potentially useful card that is discarded. For example, if the player had 3 to a royal and 4 to a flush, the correct play is to keep three to the royal, discarding the fourth suited card. The discarded suited card would be called a flush penalty card because it could have been used to complete a flush. By discarding it, the player's odds of forming a flush are "penalized."
Sometimes penalty cards can affect borderline plays. For example, if the player had a suited 10 and king, with no other cards of that suit, nor a 9, jack, queen, or ace, then the player should keep the two to a royal flush. However, this is only marginally better than discarding everything. If the player had just one suited card, or any card that could be used to complete a straight, then the odds of forming a flush or straight would be depressed, lowering the overall expected return below that of discarding everything. So, in that situation the player should be mindful of the effect of penalty cards.
Playing Card Symbols:
T =
10, J = Jack, Q = Queen, K = King, A = Ace
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Jacks or
Better Simple Video Poker Strategy |
The following is my simple strategy for jacks or better video poker. Using the strategy on a full pay video poker machine will result in an expected return of 99.46%. To use this strategy, look up all viable ways on the following list to play an initial video poker hand and elect that hand which is highest on the list. Note: a "high card" means a jack or higher.
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Go with the highest video poker hand on this list. |
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| Full house or better |
| 4 to a royal flush |
| Straight, three of a kind, or flush |
| 4 to a straight flush |
| Two pair |
| High pair |
| 3 to a royal flush |
| 4 to a flush |
| Low pair |
| 4 to an outside straight |
| 2 suited high cards |
| 3 to a straight flush |
| 2 unsuited high cards (if more than 2 pick then pick lowest 2) |
| Suited 10/J, 10/Q, or 10/K |
| One high card |
| Discard everything |
Example: Suppose you have the following video poker hand.
The top three strategic plays are: (1) keep the low pair, (2) keep the 4 to a flush, and (3) keep the 2 suited high cards. The 4 to a flush is listed highest and is thus the best play, so discard the 3 of hearts.
|
Jacks or Better Intermediate
Video Poker Strategy |
The following is my intermediate strategy for jacks or better video poker. Using the strategy on a full pay video poker machine will result in an expected return of 99.52%. To use this strategy, look up all viable ways on the following list to play an initial video poker hand and elect that hand which is highest on the list. Note: a "high card" means a jack or higher.
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Go with the highest video poker hand on this list. |
|
|
| Full house or better |
| 4 to a royal flush |
| Straight, three of a kind, or flush |
| 4 to a straight flush |
| Two pair |
| High pair |
| 3 to a royal flush |
| 4 to a flush |
| Low pair |
| 4 to an outside straight |
| 3 to a straight flush (high cards - gaps > = 0) |
| 2 suited high cards |
| 4 to an inside straight w/ 3-4 high cards |
| 3 to a straight flush (high cards - gaps = -1) |
| J/Q/K unsuited |
| J/Q unsuited |
| 10/J suited |
| J/K, Q/K unsuited |
| 10/Q suited |
| J/A, Q/A, K/A unsuited |
| 10/K suited |
| One high card |
| 3 to a straight flush (high cards - gaps = -2) |
| Discard everything |
Note: The number of high cards in holding 3
to a straight flush is roughly offset by the number of gaps. When
evaluating 3 to a straight flush, subtract the number of gaps from the
number of high cards.
Example: Suppose you have the following
video poker hand.
The top two strategic plays are: (1) keep the three to a straight flush and (2) keep two to a royal flush. The number of gaps to the straight flush is 2 and the number of high cards is also 2. So gaps - high cards = 0. The table shows that 3 to a straight flush, where gaps - high cards > = 0, beats two suited high cards, so keep the 3 cards to the straight flush.
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Jacks or Better Optimal Video Poker Strategy |
It should be mentioned that this optimal video poker strategy is mainly for academic interest, or for only the most avid video poker players. For practical purposes, I recommend my simple video poker strategy with a return of 99.46% or my intermediate strategy with a return of 99.52%.
To use this optimal video poker strategy, look up all viable ways on the following list to play an initial video poker hand and elect that hand which is highest on the list. Note: a "high card" means a jack or higher.
If your video poker hand isn't on the list, then it should never be played. The numbers on the right represent the average return. These numbers can vary depending on the discards.
This is a long and rather difficult video poker strategy, but I believe it correctly advises every possible video poker hand. If used correctly, it should yield perfect play.
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Go with the highest video poker hand on this list. |
| Pat royal flush (800.0000) |
| Pat straight flush (50.0000) |
| Pat four of a kind (25.0000) |
| 4 to a royal flush (18.3617) |
| Pat full house (9.0000) |
| Pat flush (6.0000) |
| 3 of a kind (4.3025) |
| Pat straight (4.0000) |
| 4 to a straight flush (3.5319) |
| Two pair (2.59574) |
| High pair (1.5365) |
| 3 to a royal flush (1.2868) a |
| 4 to a flush (1.2766) |
| 4 to an outside straight with 3 high cards (0.8723) |
| Low pair (0.8237) |
| 4 to an outside straight with 0-2 high cards (0.6809) |
| 3 to a straight flush, spread 5, 2 high cards (0.6429) |
| 3 to a straight flush, spread 4, 1+ high card (0.6392) |
| 3 to a straight flush, spread 3, 0+ high cards (0.6207) |
| Suited jack and queen (0.6004) b |
| 4 to an inside straight, 4 high cards (0.5957) |
| 2 suited high cards, king highest (0.5821) |
| 2 suited high cards, ace highest (0.5678) |
| 4 to an inside straight, 3 high cards (0.5319) |
| 3 to a straight flush, spread 5, 1 high card (0.5227) c |
| 3 to a straight flush, spread 4, 0 high cards (0.5097) |
| Unsuited JQK (0.5005) |
| Unsuited JQ (0.4980) |
| Suited TJ (0.4968) d |
| 2 unsuited high cards king highest (0.4862) |
| Suited TQ (0.4825) e |
| 2 unsuited high cards ace highest (0.4743) |
| J only (0.4713) |
| Suited TK (0.4682) f |
| Q only (0.4681) |
| K only (0.4649) |
| A only (0.4640) |
| 3 to a straight flush, spread 5, 0 high cards (0.4431) |
| Garbage, discard everything (0.3597) |
Rare Exceptions:
a 4 to a flush beats 3 to a royal if royal
includes a ten and ace, and the unsuited card is a 10 or
straight penalty card.
b 4 to an inside straight beats suited jack and
queen with 9 or flush penalty card.
c 3 to a straight flush, spread 5, with 1 high
card vs. 4 to an inside straight, with 3 high cards: Play the
straight flush if there is no straight penalty card.
d Suited 10 and jack vs. an unsuited jack and
king: If there is no flush penalty card when keeping the 10
and jack then that is the better play, otherwise keep the jack
and king.
e Suited 10 and queen vs. an unsuited queen and
ace: If there is no flush penalty card then keeping the 10 and
queen then that is the better play, otherwise keep the queen
and ace.
f Suited 10, king vs. king only: Normally the
suited ten and king is better than the king alone, however, if
you must discard a 9 and a flush penalty card then hold the
king only.
Video poker hands that are never played:
I have removed from the list video poker hands that are never played. Either some subsets of these hands are better than the larger hand, or discarding everything is better. I note what you should do with these video poker hands in parenthesis.
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Suited 10 and ace (keep the ace only); |
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3 unsuited high cards, ace highest (keep the lowest two high cards); |
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4 to an inside straight, 2 high cards (keep the two high cards); |
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4 to an inside straight, 1 high card (keep the single high card); |
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4 to an inside straight, 0 high cards (discarding everything). |
Our thanks to the Wizard of Odds. If you have a question, feel free to ask the Wizard.
For more on the math and methodology behind the Wizard's strategy, look here.
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