Two Pair in Jacks or Better: Hold Both Pairs and Draw One
Dealt: 8♣ 8♦ 4♥ 4♠ K♦
Best play: Hold 8♣ 8♦ 4♥ 4♠.
Two pair already pays 2 for 1. Keep both pairs and draw one card: 4 of the 47 cards make a full house, which pays 9. Keeping the kicker or breaking a pair only throws value away.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 8♣ 8♦ 4♥ 4♠ | 2.5957 | best |
| 8♣ 8♦ 4♥ 4♠ K♦ | 2.0000 | 0.5957 |
| 8♣ 8♦ | 0.8301 | 1.7656 |
| 4♥ 4♠ | 0.8301 | 1.7656 |
| 8♣ 8♦ K♦ | 0.6772 | 1.9186 |
| 4♥ 4♠ K♦ | 0.6772 | 1.9186 |
Getting this hand wrong costs 0.5957 coins per coin bet, or 59.6% of your wager on this hand. Over thousands of hands, mistakes like this are what separate a 99.5% game from a 97% one.
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More hands: Every Jacks or Better hold decision · Video poker strategy · The 9/6 paytable
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