Jacks or Better
Online Video Poker
Jacks or Better is the original video poker game – the granddaddy of all video poker variations that evolved later. Upon placing a bet, the machine randomly deals a five-card hand.
You decide which cards to keep and which to discard for new ones that might give you the best winning hand. Your goal is to build the highest paying hand possible. The lowest payout is for a pair of jacks, which returns your bet.
Hold 'em, Fold 'em
A regular deck of 52 cards is used and all cards are re-shuffled at the end of each hand played. When playing Jacks or Better at online casinos, you use buttons to select the number of coins you want to bet.
We recommend always playing the maximum of 5 coins, otherwise you'll miss out on the 4,000 coin jackpot payoff. On some machines, you need to click DEAL to get your 5 cards; others deal them automatically when you place your bet.
Once you've made your hold/discard decisions, click the appropriate buttons or touch the card images on the screen to hold the cards you want to keep.
Be careful though, some machines do the reverse and cancel a card you clicked as a keeper. How frustrating when a machine is designed that way! You can exchange cards only once and you're stuck with whatever is dealt to replace them.
Multi-hand Games
The latest invention is multi-hand games. Instead of one hand at a time, you can play 3, 4, 5, 10 or more hands at once. Some machines will deal up to 100 hands instantly!
These games are fun when you are dealt a winning hand because the winning cards appear on all hands. Once I was dealt Four of a Kind on a $1 five-hand machine. That’s an automatic $625 win for a $25 bet!
9/6 Jacks or Better
Jacks or Better is such a popular video poker game because, over the long term, machines with a 9/6 pay table return just 46 cents under $100 if the game is played with optimum precision.
How do you learn to play with optimum precision? Go to this page where you’ll learn the secret of playing perfect video poker strategy online without having to memorize the rules.
You can find Jacks or Better in all online casinos featuring video poker games. If the pay schedule is not 9/6, go somewhere else. While it is increasingly difficult to find 9/6 machines in land based casinos, few online casinos do not offer this full-pay version.
By taking the free casino bonus money into the equation, playing online Jacks video poker could be your best gambling proposition. Next is what the pay table on top paying machines looks like.
The Best Pay Table
The 9/6 "Jacks" Pay Table (rated at 99.54% payback with 5 coins bet per hand):
Royal Flush 10♣ J♣ Q♣ K♣ A♣ pays 4,000 coins
Straight Flush 5♦ 4♦ 3♦ 2♦ A♦ pays 250 coins
Four of a Kind 10♣ 10♦ 10♥ 10♠ 5♦ pays 125 coins
Full House10♦ 10♥ J♠ J♦ J♣ pays 45 coins
Flush A♥ Q♥ 10♥ 5♥ 3♥ pays 30 coins
Three of a Kind 2♠ 2♥ 2♦ K♠ 6♠ pays 15 coins
Two Pairs 5♥ 5♠ J♠ J♦ 6♠ pays 10 coins
Jacks or Better J♠ J♦ K♠ 6♠ 2♥ pays 5 coins
If you want to play online Jacks or Better video poker, be sure the casino has 9/6 games before you deposit your money. If they don't, find a casino where they do.
