Video poker looks like a slot machine, but it plays like a card game. You’re dealt five cards, you choose which to keep, and the ones you throw away are replaced. That one decision, which cards to hold, is the whole game, and it’s why video poker has some of the best odds in the casino when you play it well.
This guide covers Jacks or Better, the original and most common version. Learn the short list below and you’ll be making the right hold almost every time.
How Jacks or Better works
- You bet, and you’re dealt five cards.
- You tap the cards you want to hold. The rest are discarded and replaced with new cards from the same deck.
- Your final hand is paid according to the pay table on the screen.
The lowest paying hand is a pair of Jacks or better (Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces), which is where the game gets its name. A pair of 10s or lower pays nothing on its own.
A typical “full pay” table, per coin bet, looks like this:
- Royal flush: 250 (800 when you bet 5 coins)
- 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 hold chart, from best to worst
Look at your five cards and find the highest line on this list that matches. Hold those cards and discard the rest.
- A royal flush, straight flush or four of a kind. Hold it.
- Four cards to a royal flush. Hold them, even if it means breaking up a flush or straight.
- A full house, flush, straight or three of a kind. Hold the made hand (for three of a kind, hold just the three).
- Four cards to a straight flush.
- Two pair. Hold both pairs.
- A high pair (Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces).
- Three cards to a royal flush.
- Four cards to a flush.
- A low pair (2s through 10s).
- Four cards to an outside straight, meaning four in a row that can be completed at either end, like 5-6-7-8.
- Two suited high cards, like the Queen and King of hearts.
- Three cards to a straight flush.
- Two unsuited high cards. If you have three, hold the two lowest.
- A suited 10 with a Jack, Queen or King.
- One high card.
- Nothing at all. Discard all five and draw a fresh hand.
That’s the whole strategy. It isn’t the perfect, computer-calculated version, but it gets you within a tiny fraction of a percent of it.
Tricky hands explained
- Ace, King, Queen and Jack of spades, plus the 10 of hearts. You already have a straight that pays 4. Throw away the 10 of hearts anyway. Four to a royal (line 2) beats a made straight (line 3), because the royal is worth so much.
- A pair of 9s and four hearts. Break the pair and go for the flush. Four to a flush (line 8) beats a low pair (line 9).
- A pair of Jacks and four to a flush. Keep the Jacks. A high pair already pays, and it ranks above the flush draw.
- Ace, King, Queen of different suits. Hold the King and Queen, the two lowest high cards. They have a better chance of forming a straight than combinations that include the Ace.
- Two pair. Hold both pairs and draw one card. Never keep just one of them.
Mistakes that cost the most
- Keeping a kicker. Holding a high card next to a pair (like 7-7-Ace) feels smart but lowers your odds. Hold the pair alone.
- Holding low cards for a straight. An inside straight draw, like 5-6-8-9, almost never pays off. Don’t chase it.
- Betting fewer than the maximum coins. On most machines the royal flush pays a big bonus only on a maximum bet. With fewer coins you’re giving up a chunk of the return.
- Playing a worse pay table. See below.
Why the pay table matters
The full house and flush payouts are the quickest way to judge a machine. You’ll see them written as “9/6” (9 for a full house, 6 for a flush).
- 9/6 Jacks or Better returns about 99.5% of your bets over time with good strategy.
- 8/5 Jacks or Better returns about 97.3%.
That one-coin difference on two hands almost quintuples the house edge, from around 0.5% to about 2.7%. If you play for real money, it’s worth looking for the better table.
A word on the odds
Even at 99.5%, the house still has the edge, and strategy can’t change the result of any single hand. A royal flush shows up roughly once every 40,000 hands, so most sessions won’t include one. Good strategy simply makes every hold the best one available, which makes your money last longer.
Like any casino game, set a budget before you start and treat it as entertainment, not income.
Practice in Orbit Casino
The best way to learn the hold chart is to play a lot of hands with nothing on the line. Orbit Casino for iPhone and iPad puts 24 games in one free app, including Video Poker, Blackjack, Baccarat, Roulette, Hilo, Craps, six themed slots and 12 Orbit Originals. It’s all play money, so you can test the tricky hands until the right hold feels automatic.
Download Orbit Casino on the App Store
Prefer a game where you play against the dealer? Read blackjack basic strategy, explained simply next.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best strategy for Jacks or Better?
Hold the highest-ranked option on the hold chart: made hands of a straight or better, then four to a royal flush, then two pair, then a high pair, and so on down. With a 9/6 pay table, good strategy returns about 99.5% over time.
Should I break a straight to go for a royal flush?
Yes. If you have four cards to a royal flush, hold those four and discard the fifth card, even if it breaks up a straight or flush.
Should I hold a kicker with a pair in video poker?
No. Hold the pair alone and draw three cards. Keeping an extra high card lowers your chances of improving the hand.
Where can I practice video poker for free?
Orbit Casino for iPhone and iPad includes Video Poker along with 23 other games, all with play money that has no cash value.
Try Orbit Casino. Built by Atkinson Interactive. Learn more about Orbit Casino →
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