Low Pair or Three to a Royal Flush in Jacks or Better?
Dealt: 4♣ 4♦ K♠ Q♠ J♠
Best play: Hold K♠ Q♠ J♠.
Three to a royal wins easily here. The royal possibility plus three high cards that can pair outweigh a small pair that has to improve to pay.
Every hold that matters, exactly
Expected return per coin bet on 9/6 Jacks or Better, averaged over every possible draw. A return of 1.000 gets your bet back on average.
| Hold | Return | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| K♠ Q♠ J♠ | 1.5328 | best |
| 4♣ 4♦ | 0.8237 | 0.7092 |
| 4♣ 4♦ K♠ | 0.6753 | 0.8575 |
| 4♣ 4♦ Q♠ | 0.6753 | 0.8575 |
| 4♣ 4♦ J♠ | 0.6753 | 0.8575 |
| Q♠ J♠ | 0.5429 | 0.9899 |
Getting this hand wrong costs 0.7092 coins per coin bet, or 70.9% of your wager on this hand. Over thousands of hands, mistakes like this are what separate a 99.5% game from a 97% one.
Practise the hands that trip people up
Casino Trainer deals you real video poker hands, solves every one of the 32 possible holds, and shows exactly what each mistake cost. It's the same calculation as on this page.
More hands: Every Jacks or Better hold decision · Video poker strategy · The 9/6 paytable
Want the correct play named for you, hand by hand? Get Casino Trainer — virtual credits only, never real money.