SmartHold
9 / 6
THE BASELINE
Jacks or Better
Strategy guide
Learn this ladder first. Made hands lead, royal and straight-flush draws get special treatment, and pairs do more work than they seem to.
Built for full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better.
REMEMBER THESE
The three rules that move the game
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
Pairs beat hopeful runs
A low pair usually outranks an ordinary four-card straight, while a paying pair outranks nearly every four-card draw.
03
Suit and connection add value
With no made hand, prefer cards that can reach more than one result: a royal, straight flush, flush, straight, or paying pair.
DECISION LADDER
Start at the top; compare overlapping choices.
CORE ORDER
“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 stay out of the draw and can weaken a competing hold.
01
Pat royal, straight flush, or four of a kind
Keep the completed premium hand.
02
Four to a royal flush
The jackpot 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
A premium multi-path draw.
06
Two pair, then Jacks or Better
Keep both pairs, or the single paying pair.
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.
Why this isn’t an exception chart
Suits, gaps, discarded cards, and custom payouts can move close hands. This is a compact learning guide, not a complete first-match chart. For wild games, use only the branch for the wild cards actually dealt. SmartHold Practice compares all 32 holds for the exact deal. EV means average total return, including the stake, per coin wagered; it is not profit or the chance of winning. The examples use the schedule named above.
WORKED EXAMPLES
Three deals where the ladder overrules the obvious hold
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
Aces up is not a reason to go quad hunting: 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 pair
Discard the other three cards. Extra kickers only reduce your draw.
Overvaluing inside straights
They have only four outs. Keep them only when the exact high-card and pay-table value supports it.
Breaking a made hand too freely
Outside four to a royal, the secure payout usually wins.
TURN THE LADDER INTO INSTINCT
Practice Jacks or Better
Every miss comes back through Review until the correct hold is automatic.