Play Jacks or Better Video Poker

How to play

Jacks or Better is one of the easiest variations of the five-card draw Poker. Those players who have already played the game of Poker will find the game very easy. And for those who are new to the world of Poker, Jacks or Better is the best introduction to video poker games on the web.

Objective:

The key motive of the player in the game of Jacks or Better is to get a winning hand which is either a pair of jacks or better by holding the best possible cards in the hand.

Bet:

Begin by settling down your bet first. You can customize the size of your wager by pressing the up and down arrows on the extreme left side of the screen. You can set your bet in the denominations of $0.05, $0.25, $0.50, $1.00 and $5.00. Click on the $5, $25 and $100 chips to credit your account on the Jacks or Better. Then click on the ‘Bet One’ tab to place your wager. You can place multiple bets per hand by pressing the ‘Bet One’ tab multiple times or press the ‘Bet Max’ tab to bet five coins in one go. You can place the maximum bet of worth five coins and the minimum of one coin per hand.

Once you have placed your bet, hit the ‘Draw Deal’ button to draw a set of five up cards. Click on the cards you wish to hold and then press the ‘Draw Deal’ button once again to replace the discarded cards (the one you didn’t hold) with other cards.

Card Ranks:

The cards in the game of Jacks or Better Video Poker are ranked based on the standard sequence of the cards i.e.: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2.

Poker Hands:

The hand ranking in Jacks or Better is the same as the standard game of poker. The only exception is that the lowest hand is a pair of jacks or better that justifies the name of this game. The table mentioned below shows the different poker hands along with the description of each hand:

Poker Hand	Description
Royal Flush	10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of same suit
Straight Flush	Five cards of same suit in sequence
Four of a Kind	Four cards of same rank
Full House	Three of a kind and a pair
Flush	Five cards of same suit
Straight	Five cards in sequence
Three of a Kind	Three cards of same rank
Two pair	Two sets of two cards of the same rank
Jacks or Better	Two cards of the same rank that are either Jacks or higher

Payouts:

Every hand in Jacks or Better gets you a different return based on the number of coins you bet with. The payouts increase as you raise your betting limit. The payout table stated below shows the various payoffs in the game:

Poker Hand	One Coin	Two Coins	Three Coins	Four Coins	Five Coins
Royal Flush	250	500	750	1000	4000
Straight Flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a Kind	25	50	75	100	125
Full House	6	12	18	24	30
Flush	5	10	15	20	25
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of a Kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pair	2	4	6	8	10
Jacks or Better	1	2	3	4	5

Double or Nothing Bonus Round:

Double or nothing is a bonus feature which is triggered whenever you get a winning hand. Click ‘NO‘ if you are content with the stipulated payout of the winning hand. Click ‘YES‘ if you wish to double your winnings by playing on this bonus game. You are then dealt with four cards face down along with the dealer’s up card. Out of your four hole cards you need to select a card which is higher than the dealer’s up card.

To illustrate: If you win a hand of jacks or better, the double or nothing bonus feature is triggered and if you click on ‘YES‘ your jacks or better win is doubled.

If the dealer’s up card is 10 and you pick up a Jack, you’ll win the double of the jacks or better win.

If the dealer’s up card is K and you get a Q, you’ll lose all your winnings.

If the dealer’s up card is 7 and you also get a 7, it will result into a tie and you’ll get half of the total bonus win.

If you click on ‘NO‘ after playing one or more bonus games, you’ll be paid half of the total bonus win.

Multi-Hand Games:

In the game of Jacks or Better, you can play with multiple hands as well. You can play with 3, 10, 52 or 100 hands at a time. In the multiple-hand of Jacks or Better, you can place your bets in the denominations of $0.01, $0.05, $0.25, $0.50 and $1.00 per hand. The payout table on the extreme left side of the screen displays the payoffs attached to the various winning hands. The table features the prefixed limit per hand which is further multiplied by the number of hands that you win.

To illustrate: If you win five straight hands in the 100 hands of the Jack or Better, you’ll win 20 (5 x 4 = 20) coins. Likewise, if you get three hands of jacks or better, you’ll win 3 (3 X 1 = 3) coins.

You can double your winnings by playing on the double or nothing bonus feature in the multi-hand game of Jacks or Better.

Screen:

Whenever you play on the 3, 10, 52 or 100 hands of Jacks or Better, the screen features the multiple hands with all the cards facedown. After placing the multiple bets per hand, you’ll be dealt with five up cards. The cards in the rest of the hands are face down. Click on the particular cards you wish to hold from among the five up cards. Whatever cards you hold will also be revealed in the rest of the hands in the game as well. Then press the draw button to draw all the rest of the cards.

Advantages:

The multi-hand game of Jacks and Better offers massive odds of winning in the game. If you are playing on the 100 hand game of Jacks or Better, your chances to get at least two or more higher winning hands are more than in the single hand of video poker Jacks or Better.

Disadvantages:

There is only one disadvantage of playing with the multi-hand game of Jacks or Better. Your win is always less than what you bet on all the hands in the game unless you get the high hands like royal flush or straight flush or you play on the double or nothing bonus round to get the doubles of your winnings.

Speed Deal Option:

Clicking on the Speed Dial option of Jacks or Better will deal the cards on a much rapid pace than the normal dealing of the cards. The speed dial option works only under the multi-hand variations of this game.

Strategy

Jacks or Better is the basic game on which most games of Video Poker are based. There are 52 cards and no wild card in this game. A pair of Jacks will fetch an even money win in this game. To win the highest payout, you need to play with the ‘Bet Max’ tab. Though there is no specific strategy that can bring a win for sure, some key strategies discussed in this write up will definitely help you to stand a better chance to win.

Hold Good Cards Before Redrawing: While drawing your cards, first of all you have to see whether it holds a payout. If you are lucky enough to get a Poker hand of Two Pair, Three of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Four of a Kind, Royal Flush or Straight Flush. Hold these cards to get the corresponding payouts.

If you Get a winning pair keep the two cards and trade the other three: You have to hold when there is a Pay Pair. They are two Aces, Kings, Queens, or Jacks. However, if your hand contains another pair you have to opt for two pair or better. After a redraw of cards, Pay Pairs may lead to profitable payout.

Try to Improve your Non–Paying Pair: Non-Paying pairs are the pairs from 2 to 10. They may be already in a pair but may not hold a payout due to the lesser rank than a pair of Jacks. However, if you draw a better hand like two-pair or three-of-a-kind, then your hand will qualify for a payout.

Hold the High Pay Cards: Pay cards are any Ace, King, Queen or Jack. They are named as high cards because pairing any of these into a winning hand is a probability. Pay card hands occur when you hold two or more pay cards that are not paired already.

Play for the Royal Flush: Royal Flush is the highest payout combination in the game of Jacks or Better. If you get four cards close to Royal flush and need another winning hand, then you have to hold and play for the Royal Flush.

Hold the Highest Card: If you do not have winning hands and no winning pairs, hold the highest card particularly if it is a Jack. By keeping that one Jack you may get a second Jack and go on to win. The highest card can even be a King or as low as a five that can combine with another two of a kind and get a win for you as Three of a Kind is also a winning poker hand.

Tips

Among all the variations of Poker, Jacks or Better is the easiest to master. Following certain simple steps can help you hone your Poker skills.

Free Casino game:

Before you begin playing video poker for real, you should try CoolCat casino games section and take some time for some sincere practice on the free Jacks or Better Video Poker is certainly the right choice. What can be better than getting a practical demo of all the major rules of the game without putting in a single penny? Plus, a steady practise on the free casino game of the Jacks or Better will also help you master the game.

Holding the cards:

Holding the right cards is certainly the best strategy that you can get to magnify your odds of reaching the higher hands in the game of Jacks or Better Poker. This can be better explained through an example, for instance if you get a Q and a J of the same suit and a K of the different suit, hold Q-J-K. If you draw a 10 and an Ace in the next deal you can get a Royal Flush which is the biggest hand in the game. And even if you don’t get a 10 or an Ace in your next deal, you’ll still have the Jacks or Better if your get a Q-Q, K-K or J-J.

Play with higher limits:

Make sure you bet with higher limits in the game. Like if you are close to Royal Flush and you have bet with just one coin, you’ll repent for missing out on the biggest reward of 4000 coins by just four more coins.

History

Glossary

Bet: Bet is the total number of coins that you wager per deal.

Betting Limits: It is the highest and the lowest value of wagering in the game. In the game of Jacks or Better, the player can wager with highest betting limit of $5 and the lowest of $1.

Coin Size: Coin size is a measuring unit for the value of the coins that you use to play the game. For example, if you are playing in the denomination of $1, your coin size is $1. In the single hand game of Jacks or Better, you can play with the coins in the denominations of $0.05, $0.25, $0.50, $1.00 to $5.00. However, in the multi-hand games the denomination ranges from $0.01 to $1.00.

Chips: Chips are the different values of the coins that you can use in the lieu of money to play the game. In the game of Jacks or Better you can credit your account with the chips of worth $5, $25 and $100.

Bet Max.: Bet max is the highest betting limit that a player can wager with on every hand. In Jacks or Better, the player can bet maximum up to five coins per deal.

Deal: To draw the cards during a hand is known as dealing the cards. In a single hand of the Jacks or Better you can draw five cards face up.

Deal All: Deal all allows you to deal all the cards in one go.

Hand: A hand is the combination of different cards in the game. There are total five cards in one hand of Jacks or Better.

Hole Card: The facedown card in the game is known as the Hole Card.

Up Card: The face up card in the game is known as the Up Card.

Hand Ranks: Hand Ranks are the various high and low winning hands in the game that give different payouts. There are total nine hand ranks in the game of Jacks or Better.

High Hand: High hand is the best card in the game of poker. The highest hand in the Jacks or better is the Royal Flush.