If you’ve never played Jacks or Better video poker before or thought that learning the strategies would be too difficult, this technique is for you. It won’t make you a video poker pro, but by using these easy rules instead of guessing, you’ll be able to play longer, win more often and rack up a ton of points on your player’s card. It’s perfect if you’re going on vacation or if you just go to the casino once in a while.

And you can practice for free, anytime, at the Mysticgambler.com.

In the casino, simply look for any video poker machines that are called Jacks or Better. If you don’t see a Jacks or Better stand alone machine, you’ll often find it as a selection on most Game King machines. The strategy will also work for the game called Bonus Poker – but look at the paytable first to make sure that when you win with two pair that you’ll double your bet. So, for a five coin bet you’ll win ten coins when you get two pair. Avoid any game that doesn’t double your bet when you win on two pair.

You’ll sometimes get a winning hand on the first deal in Jacks or Better. If you do,the machine will let you know by making a sound and highlighting the the winning hand on the paytable. When that happens, hold the cards that make up the winning hand and throw away the others. If you’re dealt a pat hand, like a straight or a full house, hold all five cards.

Any winning hand could be dealt to you – even a Royal Flush – but the most commonly dealt winning hand is a pair of High Cards. High cards are the face cards Jack, Queen, King and Ace. The others are called low cards. A pair of any high cards qualifies as a pair of Jacks or Better and is a winning hand. A pair of high cards is the lowest paying winning hand as it only pays even money – the amount of your bet. Profitable winning hands begin with two pair.

If you’re not dealt a winning hand, look for a low pair. You don’t want to miss a low pair when playing Jacks or Better. A low pair is also a common hand and even though it doesn’t pay anything by itself it’s the most convertable hand that you can be dealt. A low pair can easily convert to the profitable hands of two pair, three of a kind, a full house or four of a kind. However, if you have any four cards that are the same suit, hold them whether you have a low pair or not. And also hold three or four cards that are part of a Royal Flush.Those are the only non-paying hands that are better to hold than a low pair.

Holding a low pair is crucial to winning at Jacks or Better. Keeping a low pair is much better than holding one or two high cards, regardless of whether the high cards are suited or not. The chances of a low pair converting into a profitable hand is better than just holding high cards, even though they look pretty.

So, lets say that you’re dealt a jack and a queen of hearts, a seven of diamonds, a seven of spades and and a nine of clubs. You would hold the two sevens (the low pair) and throw away the Jack, Queen and the nine. Yes, even though the Jack and the Queen are both hearts, and two cards of a Royal Flush, you throw them away when playing Jacks or Better. Your brain might fight you on this but the odds of converting the low pair to a profitable hand are better.

There is another hand that’s better than holding one or two high cards but still not as good as a low pair.  That’s four cards to an open (outside) straight. Look for a four card straight  if you don’t have at least a low pair. But in Jacks or Better you never draw to an inside straight.

With no low pair and no four card straight you can now look for the high cards. Hold any two suited high cards over two that are unsuited. If you happen to have three unsuited high cards, hold the lowest two.

If you don’t have two high cards to hold you can hold a single high card. However, there is a special two card hand  that’s a little better than holding a single high card.  That’s when you have a Ten that’s suited with a Jack, Queen or King.  Notice that the Ace isn’t included. Never hold  a suited 10 and Ace. You are better off throwing all your cards away – which is our final play. If you don’t have at least one high card, through all five cards away and get five new ones.

Watch for the video on Youtube so that you can see live action play and the decision making as it happens with each hand of Jacks or Better. And practice for free anytime at  the Video Poker site.

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