Jacks or Better Video Poker

What should you do when you are dealt with 1 pair and nothing else?...

There's an online gambling game called Jacks which also means "better video poker". It's one of the simplest games ever invented. Even newbies have no trouble playing it. Most 

games require a human opponent but not Jacks. Jacks is played only against a computer.

The purpose of the game is to have the most expensive hand combination.

You earn money only if your hand combination is more expensive than the hand combination of the computer. This game doesn't have a joker. A joker is a card that can replace any other card in the game. You can earn a lot of money if you play Jacks regularly. The maximum amount you can win by playing a full game is 4000 coins.

I'm going to explain to you how Jacks is played. First, you receive 5 cards from the computer. You decide which cards to keep and which cards to replace with new cards. Then you bet on your hand. If the computer has a better hand than you do then the computer wins the hand.

How do you know how hands rank against each other? The hands are ranked based on the rules of poker.

The most expensive hands are the following:

1. Royal Straight Flush - It happens when you've got 10-J-Q-K-A of the same card type.
2. Straight Flush - You get straight flush when your cards are consecutive(e.g. 5-6-7-8-9) and of the same kind.
3. Four of a Kind - Four of a kind is when you get 4 cards with the same number and different colors. An example is 7-7-7-7-5.
4. Full House - To get a Full House you need 3 of the same type and a pair. Here's an example: 9-9-9-4-4.
5. Flush - All your 5 cards are of the same kind or suit but they are not consecutive.
6. You can bet on each hand only a determined number of coins-You are allowed to bet only 3, 4 or 5 coins per hand. But you can still vary the amount

you bet substantially because each coin can be worth between 25 cents and 5 dollars. So the amount you can bet per hand varies from 25 cents to 25 dollars.

How can you increase your chances of winning the game? It's by using logic and risking little and often. Let's say that in the beginning you receive 2 pairs. It's better
to replace only one card, the one that doesn't have a pair, and hope to gain a Full House. It's not worth risking one of your two pairs just to win a Four of a Kind. The latter approach
doesn't work very often.

What should you do when you are dealt with 1 pair and nothing else? You should keep the pair and replace the other 3 cards. It doesn't matter if you replace
1, 2 or 3 of the other cards. The odds of winning are equal. This is because you can see only the cards you have received and no other cards. So you have way to know which cards you should keep or not.

Jacks can be played on different table types. Tables differ in the amount of money they are willing to pay. All tables pay the same amount for Royal Flush, Straight Flush,
Four of a Kind, Straight, Tree of a Kind, Two Pair, Jacks. For example, Royal Flush is 250 with a bonus of 4000 coins. Basically, if you get a Royal Flush hand you have won the game. The game ends when the first players accumulates or wins 4000 coins. The 3 table types differ in the amount they pay for Full House and Flush. If a table pays 9 coins for Full House and 6 for Flush then the table is called a 9/6 table. This is why it's better to play at a 9/6 table instead to play at a 8/5 table. You can win faster the game in this way.

I encourage everyone to give Jacks or Better Video Poker a go. You will definitely like it and you can earn a lot of money from it. Have fun!