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Intermediate strategy for Jacks or Better video poker
Last update: Nov. 6, 2008
The following strategy is my "intermediate strategy" for
jacks or better video poker. Using the strategy on a
full
pay machine will result in an expected return of 99.52%.
Compared to the optimal strategy return of 99.54%, mistakes
in the simple strategy will cost 0.03%, or one total bet
every 3805 hands.
The following stategy is not expressed in the usual order of value. Instead, this is a list of all the common conflict hands. I think the kind of list below is better suited to the way people actually think about video poker. The list is in the order of the hand strength of the better play.
9 T J Q K — Pat straight flush or 4 to a royal: Keep the straight flush.
2 T J Q A — Pat flush or 4 to a royal: Go for the royal.
T J Q K A — Pat straight or 4 to a royal: Go for the royal.
T J Q Q K — High pair or 4 to a royal: Go for the royal.
J Q Q Q K — 3 of a kind or 3 to a royal: Keep the 3 of a kind.
2 6 J Q K — Pat flush or 3 to a royal: Keep the flush
3 4 6 7 Q Pat flush or 4 to a straight flush: Keep the flush
T J Q K A — Pat straight or 3 to a royal: Keep the straight
4 5 6 7 8 — Pat straight or 4 to a straight flush: Keep the straight
T T Q A A — 2 pair or 3 to a royal: Keep the 2 pair.
7 8 9 J J — 4 to a straight flush vs. any pair: Go for straight flush
2 5 7 J J — High pair vs. 4 to a flush: Keep high pair
8 9 T J J — High pair vs. 4 to a straight: Keep high pair
3 T J Q Q — High pair vs. 3 to a royal flush: Keep high pair
3 9 J Q Q — High pair vs. 3 to a straight flush: Keep high pair
4 T T Q A — 3 to a royal vs. Low pair: Go for the royal.
2 5 T Q A — 3 to a royal vs. 4 to a flush: Go for the royal
2 T J Q K — 3 to a royal vs. 4 to a straight: Go for the royal
3 3 5 7 9 — 4 to a flush vs low pair: Go for the flush
4 5 6 7 Q — 4 to a flush vs. 4 to a straight: Go for the flush
2 6 7 8 K — 4 to a flush vs. 3 to a straight flush: Go for the flush
2 7 8 Q K — 4 to a flush vs. 2 to a royal flush: Go for the flush
5 6 7 7 8 — Low pair vs. 4 to a straight: Keep the low pair
7 8 8 9 K — Low pair vs. 3 to a straight flush: Keep the low pair
3 6 6 J Q — Low pair vs. 2 to a royal: — Keep the low pair
2
7
8
9
T — 4 to an outside straight vs. 3 to a straight flush: Go for the straight
2
9
T
J
Q — 4 to an outside straight vs. 2 to a royal flush: Go for the straight
4 5 6 J Q — 3 to a straight flush (type 1) vs. 2 to a royal flush: Go for the straight flush
8 T J Q A — 3 to a straight flush (type 1) vs. 4 to an inside straight with 3-4 high cards: Go for the straight flush
2 T J Q A — 2 to a royal flush (both high) vs. 4 to an inside straight with 3-4 high cards: Go for the royal
2 4 J Q K — 2 to a royal flush (both high) vs. any 3 unsuited high cards: Go for the royal
5 6 8 K A — 2 to a royal flush (both high) vs. 3 to a straight flush (type 2): Go for the royal
7 T J K A — 4 to an inside straight with 3-4 high cards vs. 3 to a straight flush (type 2): Go for the straight
7
T J K A — 4 to an inside straight with 3-4 high cards vs. 2 to a royal (ten low): Go for the straight
2 4 7 T J — 3 to a straight flush (type 2) vs. 2 to a royal flush (10 low): Go for the straight flush
7 8 T J A — 3 to a straight flush (type 2) vs. 1-3 high cards: Go for the straight flush
2 5 J Q K — KQJ vs. QJ: Play KQJ
4 6 T J Q — QJ vs 2 to a royal flush (ten low): Keep QJ
2 4 6 J Q — QJ vs 3 to a straight flush (type 3): Keep QJ
3 5 J Q A — QJ vs 3 high cards A high: Keep QJ
2 3 T J A — JT suited vs 2-3 unsuited high cards K or A high: Keep JT
2 4 6 T J — JT suited vs 3 to a straight flush (type 3): Keep JT
2 4 T J K — KJ vs JT suited: Keep KJ
2 4 6 J K — KQ or KJ vs. 3 to a straight flush (type 3): Keep KQ or KJ
3 4 5 T K — KT suited vs. K: Play KT suited
2
4
6
T
K — KT suited vs. 3 to a straight flush (type 3): Keep KT suited
3 5 7 8 J — Single high card vs. 3 to a straight flush (type 3): Keep high card only
If you prefer to learn the usual way, here is a list of possible plays according to the strength of the hand. To use the strategy look up all viable ways to play an initial hand on the following list and elect that which is
highest on the list. A "high card" means a jack or higher.
Four of a kind, straight flush, royal flush
4 to a royal flush
Three of a kind, straight, flush, full house
4 to a straight flush
Two pair
High pair
3 to a royal flush
4 to a flush
Low pair
4 to an outside straight
3 to a straight flush (type 1)
AKQJ unsuited
2 suited high cards
4 to an inside straight with 3 high cards
3 to a straight flush (type 2)
KQJ unsuited
QJ unsuited
JT suited
KQ, KJ unsuited
QT suited
AK, AQ, AJ unsuited
KT suited
One high card
3 to a straight flush (type 3)
Discard everything
Terms:
High card: A jack, queen, king, or ace. These
cards are retained more often because if paired up they
return the original bet.
Outside straight: An open ended straight that can
be completed at either end, such as the cards 7,8,9,10.
Inside straight: A straight with a missing inside
card, such as the cards 6,7,9,10. In addition A,2,3,4 and
J,Q,K,A also count as inside straights because they are at
an extreme end.
High Card:J to A
Straight Flush draw (type 1):Open ended straight flush draw, in which the number of high cards equals or exceeds number of gaps.
Straight Flush draw (type 2):Open ended straight flush draw, in which the number of gaps, less the number of high cards, equals 1. Also, any ace-low straight flush draw, or 2-3-4 suited.
Straight Flush draw (type 3):Straight flush draw with two gaps and no high cards.
Example: Suppose you have the following hand.
The top two plays are (1) keep the three to a straight
flush and (2) keep two to a royal flush. The number of gaps
to the straight flush is 2 and the number of high cards is
also 2, so it is a type 1 straight flush draw. The table shows that 3 to a
straight flush (type 1), beats two suited
high cards, so keep the 3 cards to the straight flush.
Comparison to Optimal Strategy
The following table compares the probability and return
of each hand under both the simple strategy and the optimal
strategy.
Simple Strategy to Optimal Strategy
Comparison
Hand
Pays
Probability
Return
Interm.
Optimal
Interm.
Optimal
Royal flush
800
0.000025
0.000025
0.020204
0.019807
Straight flush
50
0.000114
0.000109
0.005696
0.005465
Four of a kind
25
0.002362
0.002363
0.059039
0.059064
Full house
9
0.011507
0.011512
0.103565
0.10361
Flush
6
0.011171
0.011015
0.067029
0.066087
Straight
4
0.011122
0.011229
0.04449
0.044917
Three of a kind
3
0.074421
0.074449
0.223263
0.223346
Two pair
2
0.129261
0.129279
0.258523
0.258558
Pair
1
0.213368
0.214585
0.213368
0.214585
Nothing
0
0.546648
0.545435
0
0
Total
1
1
0.995176
0.995439
The next table is a frequency distribution of the error,
or difference in expected return, between the simple
strategy and the optimal strategy.
Intermediate strategy for Jacks or Better video poker
T
T
K
T
