Jacks or Better: the classic video poker game

• Read the full house and flush pays first.
• Small pay table changes cost a lot.
• Simple strategy gets close to the full return.
• Max coins unlocks the 800-for-1 royal.

One draw per hand.

The name 9/6 comes from the full house and flush pays per coin. Those two lines are where casinos cut the pay table most. A 9/6 game with perfect play returns about 99.54%. Dropping to 8/5 cuts the return to about 97.30%.

Other tables are worse: 7/5 returns about 96.15% and 6/5 about 95.00%. The game looks the same, so always check those two lines before you play. The difference between 9/6 and 6/5 is almost 4.5% of every bet.

The royal flush pays 250 per coin on one to four coins, but jumps to 4,000 for five coins, or 800 per coin. Playing fewer than five coins costs over 1% of return, so pick a denomination where five coins fits your budget.

A short list of priorities gets close to perfect play. From the top: hold any royal flush, straight flush or four of a kind; then four to a royal; then any made full house, flush, straight or three of a kind; then four to a straight flush.

Next come two pair, then a high pair of jacks or better, then three to a royal, then four to a flush. A low pair of 2s to 10s ranks below four to a flush but above most other draws.

With nothing else, hold high cards: two suited high cards, then two unsuited ones. If you have no high cards and no draw, discard all five. Do not keep a kicker next to a pair.

1. 1

   Step 01

   Find a 9/6 game

   Check full house and flush pays.

2. 2

   Step 02

   Bet 5 coins

   Unlock the royal bonus.

3. 3

   Step 03

   Use a hold order

   Or a strategy card.

4. 4

   Step 04

   Never hold a kicker

   Just the pair.

5. 5

   Step 05

   Use the club card

   Earn comps.

With perfect strategy, about 45% of hands win something, though many wins only return the bet. A royal flush comes about once every 40,000 hands, which at 600 hands an hour is roughly once every 65 to 70 hours of play.

Most of the long-run return comes from frequent small wins and the royal. Without the royal, the game returns several percent less, so short sessions usually run below 99.54%.

Video poker machines in US casinos use random number generators tested by regulators. Each hand is dealt from a fresh, shuffled 52-card deck, so past hands do not affect the next one.

Ignoring the pay table

8/5 costs 2.2% more.

Betting under 5 coins

Loses the royal bonus.

Holding a kicker

Lowers the return.

Breaking a made flush for a straight draw

Keep the flush.

• Video poker basics →How the game works.
• Video poker pay tables →Reading every game.
• Video poker strategy →Hold rules.
• Double Bonus →A higher-variance game.

Tap a resort — each row opens that casino’s White Gambling page (hours, game mix, floor facts). Venues with this game in official counts, sorted high to low.

Browse all Las Vegas casinos →

A 90-second guide cannot cover every table moment. Tap a group, then a question — answers are short paragraphs, not one-liners.

1. Wikipedia — Video poker Not from a registry (Reference source, not an official registry) · accessed Oct 15, 2026Game rules and pay tables
2. Wizard of Odds — Video poker Not from a registry (Reference source, not an official registry)?The gaming industry’s standard reference for casino-game math, by actuary Michael Shackleford. Not an official registry; our calculators compute these numbers independently. · accessed Oct 15, 2026Pay tables, return and strategy
3. Nevada Gaming Control Board · accessed Oct 15, 2026Approved games and gaming revenue reports
4. National Council on Problem Gambling — Help and resources Not from a registry (Reference source, not an official registry) · accessed Oct 15, 2026Free, confidential help: call or text 1-800-GAMBLER