Only an Ace: Hold It or Draw Five in Jacks or Better?
Dealt: A♣ 8♦ 6♥ 4♠ 2♣
Best play: Hold A♣.
A lone high card is worth holding: it pairs into a paying hand far more often than five fresh cards make anything. Don't add a low kicker.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A♣ | 0.4697 | best |
| A♣ 2♣ | 0.4104 | 0.0593 |
| A♣ 4♠ | 0.3468 | 0.1228 |
| Draw five | 0.3423 | 0.1274 |
| A♣ 8♦ | 0.3350 | 0.1347 |
| A♣ 6♥ | 0.3350 | 0.1347 |
Getting this hand wrong costs 0.0593 coins per coin bet, or 5.9% 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
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