Jacks or Better Optimal Strategy

Full-pay Jacks or Better (9/6 pay table: 9x for full house, 6x for flush) has a return of 99.54% with perfect play. That's a house edge of just 0.46%, among the best in the casino.

The strategy is a priority list of holds: if your hand contains the top-priority combination, hold those cards and discard the rest. Always check from the top of the list down.

Priority order (simplified): 1. Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind. 2. Four to a Royal Flush. 3. Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind. 4. Four to a Straight Flush. 5. Two Pair. 6. High Pair (J+). 7. Three to a Royal Flush. 8. Four to a Flush. 9. Low Pair. 10. Four to an outside Straight.

Always bet max coins (usually 5). The Royal Flush pays 800-for-1 on max bet vs 250-for-1 on less. This disproportionate bonus for max bet is where much of the game's return comes from.

Pay table matters enormously: 9/6 JoB returns 99.54%. 8/5 JoB returns 97.30%. 7/5 JoB returns 96.15%. Always check the pay table before playing because the difference is huge.

Practice with free video poker trainers online. The strategy has about 30 key decision rules. With a few hours of practice, you can play near-perfectly.