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JACKS, WITH QUAD UPSIDE
Bonus Poker Strategy guide
Updated November 4, 2026
Most everyday Jacks or Better holds stay the same. The quad bonuses pay for a full house and a flush that are each worth one credit less.
Built for 8/5 Bonus Poker.
View Bonus Poker pay table →
REMEMBER THESE
Three rules to remember
01
Start with Jacks or Better hold priorities
Almost every hold is unchanged, which makes Bonus Poker the easiest variant to learn second. The changes often involve close expected-return comparisons, especially flush and royal draws.
02
Only completed quads earn the bonus
Four Aces and Four 2s–4s earn higher payouts; pairs and trips do not. There is no kicker bonus. The chance of drawing bonus quads still affects which cards to hold, but it does not justify keeping an isolated 2, 3, or 4.
03
Lower flush payouts weaken flush draws
Full houses and flushes pay less than 9/6 Jacks, so a four-card flush is worth about a fifth of a coin less here. The quad bonuses also affect holds that can draw to four of a kind.
WHAT TO HOLD
Use these priorities to find holds to compare.
HOLD PRIORITIES
How to use these priorities
These are usual hold priorities. If your hand fits more than one choice, choose the hold with the higher average return; the first matching row may not give the best hold. In wild-card games, use the rows for the number of wild cards in your hand. Suits, missing straight ranks, discarded cards, and payouts can change which hold returns more. Use the worked examples below or check the exact hand in Practice, which compares all 32 ways to hold or discard the five cards. EV means average total return, including the stake, per coin wagered; it is not profit or the chance of winning. The examples use the pay table named above.
“Pat” means keep all five. “Four to” or “three to” counts the held cards, including any wild cards. An outside straight such as 5-6-7-8 can finish at either end; an inside straight such as 5-6-8-9 needs one rank. A-2-3-4 and J-Q-K-A also have only one completing rank. Discarded cards cannot be drawn again. For example, discarding a heart leaves one fewer heart to complete a flush. “Trips” means three of a kind; “quads” means four of a kind. “Natural” means without wild cards. A “kicker” is a side card; some games pay a bonus for a specific kicker alongside quads.
01
Pat royal, straight flush, or four of a kind
Keep the completed premium hand.
02
Four to a royal flush
Keep these four cards over a made flush, straight, or paying pair.
03
Full house, flush, or straight
Keep the made hand.
04
Three of a kind
Keep the three matching cards and draw two for quads or a full house.
05
Four to a straight flush
Keep the premium suited run.
06
Two pair, then a paying pair
With two pair, keep both pairs and draw one. With only one pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Aces, keep that pair and draw three.
07
Three to a royal versus four to a flush
Often keep the royal draw, but its ranks and discarded cards still matter.
08
Four to a flush, then a low pair
Keep the flush draw over a low pair, as in 9/6 Jacks or Better.
09
Outside straights, three-card straight flushes, and high cards
Compare suited runs, suited high cards, and unsuited high-card combinations before settling for one card. Their average returns differ, so choosing between them affects your results.
10
Draw five
Do not keep isolated low cards just because their quads would pay more.
WORKED EXAMPLES
The few deals that split from 9/6 Jacks or Better
A
HOLD
J
HOLD
10
HOLD
9
DRAW
Q
DRAW
Drop the fourth flush card, keep the royal
On 9/6 Jacks the four-card flush is correct by a hair. At 8/5 the flush is worth a credit less and the three-card royal takes over: 1.24 per coin against 1.09. Playing the 9/6 hold on this deal costs about 0.15 per coin wagered.
2
DRAW
4
DRAW
5
DRAW
Q
HOLD
J
HOLD
Two high cards over three to a straight flush
Jacks or Better keeps 2 4 5 for the chance of a straight flush, 0.53 per coin against 0.51. The lower flush payout on 8/5 means the unsuited Queen-Jack wins instead, 0.51 against 0.49.
Q
HOLD
10
DRAW
A
HOLD
3
DRAW
5
DRAW
A close choice between two high-card holds
Suited Queen-Ten is the 9/6 hold. Here the unsuited Ace-Queen edges it by 0.0012 per coin — about one coin per eight hundred repetitions of this decision at a one-coin stake. The guide helps you remember usual holds; Practice calculates which hold returns more for the exact deal.
COMMON TRAPS
Mistakes worth recognizing on sight
Chasing a quad from one card
A lone Ace can be worth keeping as a high card. An isolated 2, 3, or 4 is not a hold merely because its quads pay a bonus.
Using the wrong 8/5 strategy
Bonus Poker is not 8/5 Jacks or Better. The different quad payouts affect the average return of each hold.
Assuming similar games always use the same hold
Bonus Poker and Jacks are similar, not identical. Use Practice when discarded cards could change which hold returns more.
TURN THE LADDER INTO INSTINCT
Practice Bonus Poker
Every miss comes back through Review until the correct hold is automatic.
PRACTICE THIS STRATEGY
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