SmartHold
99.29%
ONE CARD, TWO STRATEGIES
Joker Poker
Strategy guide
Split every decision at the start: Joker in hand or Joker still in the deck. The Joker upgrades repeats and suited runs immediately; without it, every draw has one extra premium helper available.
Built for the 99.29% Kings-or-Better Joker Poker schedule.
REMEMBER THESE
The three rules that move the game
01
Always keep the Joker
It can become any rank and suit, so build the rest of the hold around the strongest made hand or draw it creates.
02
Re-read the hand with the Joker
Joker plus a natural pair is already Three of a Kind. Joker plus three matching ranks is already Four of a Kind.
03
Kings or Better is the pair floor
Natural pairs of Jacks or Queens do not pay. They may still be useful draws, but they are not made winning hands.
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
Natural royal, Wild Royal, or Five of a Kind
Keep all five cards of these completed premium hands.
02
With Joker: made straight flush or full house
Keep the completed payout; do not reduce a full house to Joker plus just one of its natural pairs.
03
Joker plus matching naturals
Draw from made quads. With trips, also check strong suited draws: Joker–8
–8
–9
–10
keeps Joker–8
–9
–10
for a straight flush, rather than the pair of 8s.
04
Joker plus suited royal cards
Four to a wild royal can break a flush: Joker–A
–K
–Q
–5
discards the 5
. Shorter royal draws need comparison with the other holds.
05
Joker plus suited connected cards
Count the Joker toward the draw. Compare this with made hands; not every suited fragment is worth keeping.
06
Joker with no strong partner
Consider a King or Ace partner first because either can form a paying pair with the Joker. Without those or a stronger draw, a middle card can help; the discarded ranks decide which one.
07
Without Joker: premium made hands and four to a royal
Check the exact draw: the unseen Joker and 940-for-1 natural royal change the conventional order.
08
Without Joker: repeats and strong four-card draws
Natural pairs and trips, flush draws, and straight draws gain completion routes from the unseen Joker. Compare them rather than treating all repeats alike.
09
Without Joker: smaller suited draws or high cards
Three-card straight-flush draws and selected two-card suited runs can be worth keeping. Only Kings or Aces form a paying natural pair.
10
Draw five
Use it only when no natural structure is worth preserving.
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 that read differently than they would in Jacks or Better
Joker
HOLD
8
HOLD
8
HOLD
3
DRAW
7
DRAW
A pair with the Joker is already three of a kind
Two 8s and a Joker is trips before you draw, worth 3.77 per coin — better than anything else in the hand by a distance. Read the Joker into the hand first, then decide.
J
HOLD
J
HOLD
9
DRAW
5
DRAW
3
DRAW
The pair of Jacks that pays nothing
This is a winner in Jacks or Better and a blank here: the bottom row starts at Kings. It is still the right hold at 0.72 per coin — as a draw to trips, not as a made hand — and roughly half what the same hand would be worth with two Kings in it.
Joker
HOLD
3
DRAW
6
DRAW
9
HOLD
4
DRAW
The Joker rides with one card, not three
With no King, Ace, or stronger draw in this deal, keep the Joker and the 9 — 1.46 per coin against 1.41 for the bare Joker and 1.40 for keeping the 4. The margin is small, but the habit of dragging two or three unrelated low cards along is not.
COMMON TRAPS
Mistakes worth recognizing on sight
Reading physical ranks only
A Joker hand often has a made category that is stronger than the printed ranks suggest.
Calling Jacks or Queens a paying pair
The bottom pay-table row starts at Kings.
Chasing a natural royal with the Joker present
A royal completed by the Joker is already a made Wild Royal; keep the payout.
TURN THE LADDER INTO INSTINCT
Practice Joker Poker
Every miss comes back through Review until the correct hold is automatic.