Jacks or Better/Draw Poker

Jacks or Better (JB) is video poker in its most basic form.  A pair of jacks, or a higher pair, gets your original bet back; anything less and you lose your bet.   In general, the pay tables for all JB machines are about the same, except for the full house and flush.  The best of these games are referred to as "9/6" or "full pay", meaning they pay 9 credits for a full house and 6 credits for a flush.  But they are seen in a number of variations, including 8/6, 8/5, 7/5, and 6/5.  Most JB machines will have a statistical variance of about 19, among the lowest variance of all video poker games.

Below, we list the possible hands in Jacks or Better, the payout (when five credits are bet), and the approximate frequency with which each hand occurs (the 9/6 variation is listed below), given correct play of the game:

By looking at the above table, it is clear that the royal flush contributes more to the total payout than does the straight flush, even though the straight flush occurs more often.  Also, two pair is clearly the most important hand in terms of the contribution to the game's total return.

In comparing JB with other games, it is critical to notice that two pair accounts for 25.86% of the total payout for JB -- the highest payout of any single hand in the game.  If you reduce the payout for two pair to 1 credit, the return for the game is reduced by a whopping 12.66%.  Why is this important?  Because in many of the "bonus" games, this is precisely what is done -- the two pair is reduced by one, with a portion of this 12.66% moved to the "bonus" payouts for various other hands (most notably, fours of a kind).  Not only does this change the total payout for the game a little, it also serves to increase the statistical variance of the game, since half of the frequently occurring two pair payout is moved to the less common four of a kind (or other hand) payout.

Following are the computed returns for the common JB games (assumes max-credits played):

Strategy Tip:  Progressive jackpots often increase the lesser-paying of these games somewhat; but the variance of the game is increased substantially.  For example, a $2,000 jackpot on a quarter 8/5 JB game makes it a 99.5917% game -- but the statistical variance is increased by a factor of four.  If you are playing the lesser game in hopes of winning a large progressive jackpot, keep in mind that the increased variance requires that you have a larger bankroll.  Translation:  You may deposit a lot of coin only to see the jackpot go to the player next to you.  Bankroll requirements when pursuing a progressive jackpot on an otherwise short-pay machine are substantially higher.