Jacks or Better Calculator
Deal a hand. The machine lights the best cards to hold for any paytable.
Presets set Full House / Flush payouts (9/6, 8/6, 9/5, 8/5). Values are per coin at the maximum five-coin bet, where the 800-coin Royal applies; on a single coin the Royal pays 250.
Lit lamps mark the mathematically best cards to hold
What This Calculator Measures
Jacks or Better is the baseline variant for video poker strategy because the rules are direct: the lowest paying hand is a pair of jacks, queens, kings, or aces. Every decision comes from comparing the expected return of each hold against the active paytable.
The tool checks all 32 hold patterns for your five cards. For each one it draws every possible replacement from the remaining deck, scores the final hand, and averages the payouts. The top row is the strongest hold for that hand and that paytable.
Best hold = the hold option with the highest average payout across all legal drawsWhy 9/6 matters
A 9/6 table pays 9 for a Full House and 6 for a Flush. That small-looking detail is one of the main reasons the full-pay version returns far more than 8/5 or 9/5 schedules. For the full payout schedule behind that shorthand, see the 9/6 Jacks or Better pay table reference.
Why the royal uses 800
Most return figures quote the royal flush at 800-for-1 on max-coin play, so the tool uses that value by default. On a single coin the royal pays 250 instead, which lowers the overall return.
Why EV beats intuition
A made low payout can feel safer than a draw without actually being correct. Four to a royal, four to a straight flush, high pairs, and four-card flushes create close calls where the EV gap matters more than how the hand looks.
Why mistake cost matters
The readout shows the distance between the best and second-best hold. Not all mistakes are equal: some wrong holds barely dent expected return, while others cost real value over repeated play.
Comparing the Common Paytables
Variants are usually named by their Full House and Flush payouts. The rest of the schedule looks similar, but trimming those two hands lowers the value of the game. The presets let you test the same hand across the common tables.
| Paytable | Full House | Flush | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9/6 Jacks or Better | 9 | 6 | Full-pay reference with the strongest standard return. |
| 8/6 | 8 | 6 | Weaker, because the Full House payout is reduced. |
| 9/5 | 9 | 5 | Cut Flush payout, which affects return and some close draws. |
| 8/5 | 8 | 5 | A common lower-return schedule versus full pay. |
How to use the presets
Pick a preset, enter the same five cards, and compare the top EV. If the best hold changes, the paytable is steering strategy directly. If the hold stays but the EV falls, the weaker table is just cutting return without changing the immediate decision.
Common Strategy Questions
Hold a high pair or chase a draw?
There is no universal answer without the exact cards. A high pair is often strong because it already qualifies for a payout and can improve to two pair, trips, a full house, or quads. Strong draws beat it in specific spots, especially when the draw carries royal or straight-flush potential.
Should you hold four cards to a flush?
A four-card flush can be valuable, but it is not automatically better than every made hand. The tool weighs the flush draw against paying pairs, straight draws, royal draws, and other holds under the active paytable — exactly where comparison beats memory.
Does 9/6 strategy work on every machine?
No. A 9/6 chart is built for the 9/6 schedule. Many decisions hold on weaker tables, but some close calls move when the Full House or Flush payout drops, which is why presets beat a single static chart.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Jacks or Better calculator?
It evaluates a five-card video poker hand and ranks the possible holds by expected value, pointing to the strongest play for a chosen paytable.
What does 9/6 mean?
9/6 means the table pays 9 for a Full House and 6 for a Flush. Those two numbers are shorthand for how strong the schedule is.
Does this show full-game RTP?
No. The page works out expected value for one dealt hand. Full-game RTP averages every possible starting hand under complete optimal play.
Why check 32 holds?
Each of the five cards is either held or discarded, so there are 2⁵ = 32 possible hold patterns.
Can I use it for Deuces Wild or Bonus Poker?
No. Those variants use different payouts or wild-card rules and need their own scoring and strategy.
Use Jacks or Better as the Base Model
It is the cleanest starting point for video poker math. Once the EV of holds, paytable shifts, and strategy mistakes are clear here, it is easier to see why other variants need their own tools instead of borrowed strategy.