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THE BASELINE
Jacks or Better Strategy guide
Updated November 4, 2026
Start with these hold priorities. Usually keep a completed winning hand, but check for a stronger royal or straight-flush draw. A pair is often worth keeping even when it does not yet pay.
Built for full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better.
View Jacks or Better pay table →
REMEMBER THESE
Three rules to remember
01
Four to a royal is exceptional
It is strong enough to break a made straight, a made flush, or a paying high pair. Keep a pat straight flush.
02
A pair usually beats an ordinary straight draw
A low pair usually outranks an ordinary four-card straight, while a paying pair outranks nearly every four-card draw.
03
Look for cards that can make several winning hands
With no made hand, prefer cards that can reach more than one result: a royal, straight flush, flush, straight, or paying pair.
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
The royal draw outranks ordinary made hands.
03
Full house, flush, or straight
Keep these made hands pat.
04
Three of a kind
Draw two for a full house or quads.
05
Four to a straight flush
The same four cards can draw to a straight flush, a flush, or a straight.
06
Two pair, then Jacks or Better
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
Compare the ranks and discards: Q-J-10 can beat the flush draw, but some Ace-containing royals lose to it.
08
Four to a flush, then a low pair
The flush draw comes first on 9/6.
09
Four-card outside straight
Eight completing cards make this the useful straight draw.
10
Three-card straight-flush and high-card draws
Do not skip suited runs. Suited high cards and often the two lowest unsuited high cards beat a lone high card; J-Q-K-A is a worthwhile four-card straight draw.
11
Draw five
Use it when nothing pays and nothing forms a worthwhile draw.
WORKED EXAMPLES
Three deals where a different hold returns more
Q
HOLD
J
HOLD
10
HOLD
5
DRAW
3
DRAW
Three to a royal beats the flush draw
Discard the 5 from the four-card flush draw: keeping Q J 10 is worth 1.48 per coin against 1.28 for keeping all four hearts. The royal, the straight flush, and the straight the Ten reaches all come off the same three cards.
7
HOLD
7
DRAW
K
HOLD
9
HOLD
3
HOLD
The flush draw beats the low pair
A pair in the hand feels safer than four to a flush, but 6-for-1 flushes make the draw worth 1.21 per coin against 0.82 for the pair of 7s. Break the pair and take the fourth heart.
A
HOLD
A
HOLD
K
HOLD
K
HOLD
7
DRAW
Two pair stays together
With a pair of Aces and another pair, keeping both pairs is 2.60 per coin against 1.54 for the Aces alone. Nothing in this pay table rewards the rank of a four of a kind.
COMMON TRAPS
Mistakes worth recognizing on sight
Keeping a kicker with a single pair
When holding just one pair, discard the other three cards. Keeping an unrelated extra card leaves fewer chances to improve the pair. With two pair, keep both pairs instead.
Overvaluing inside straights
They have only four outs. Keep them only when their average return beats the other holds; high cards and payouts can affect that comparison.
Breaking a made hand too freely
Unless you have four to a royal, keeping the completed winning hand usually returns more.
TURN THE LADDER INTO INSTINCT
Practice Jacks or Better
Every miss comes back through Review until the correct hold is automatic.
PRACTICE THIS STRATEGY
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