Jacks or Better Help

Jacks or Better Video Poker

This is a game of draw poker. The dealer will deal you five cards face up. At this point you should decide which cards to keep and which ones to throw. To keep a card just click on the card you want to keep or on the hold button below it. Once you are finished picking the cards to be discarded click on the deal button and the dealer will deal your new cards. Depending on how many cards you throw, the same number of new cards will be dealt back into your hand so you end up with five. Whether you win or lose is determined by how good a poker hand you have.

Basics of Poker and Poker Hands

Most poker games inside of our casinos are played with a standard 52-card deck. The cards are ranked according to the value of the number on the card or the value of the face. The ranking, from highest to lowest, goes as such: Ace (A), King (K), Queen (Q), Jack (J), 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The ace can also be used to complete a low straight; A, 2, 3, 4, 5. As well as numbers and faces there are 4 different types of suits which are used to determine the value of a poker hand. These are: Spades (S), Clubs (C), Diamonds (D), Hearts (H).

Poker hands are valued based on their five card ranking. These rankings are detailed below:

(A rank of 1 equals the best)

Rank   Hand Name        Description of hand                   Example

1      Royal Flush      A, K, Q, J, 10 of same suit           10S, JS, QS, KS, AS

2      Straight Flush   Five cards of same suit in sequence   4D, 5D, 6D, 7D, 8D

3      4 of a kind      Four cards of the same rank           7S, 7C, 7D, 7H

4      Full House       Three of a kind plus a pair           3D, 3S, 3C, KS, KH

5      Flush            Five cards of the same                3H, 7H, 10H, QH, AH

6      Straight         Five cards in sequence                5C, 6D, 7C, 8H, 9S

7      3 of a kind      Three cards of the same rank          JH, JS, JD

8      2 Pair           Two pairs of different rank           5H, 5S, 9C, 9S

9      1 Pair           Two cards of the same rank            AS, AD

Tie Hands

If two hands are tied in rank, the following rules apply:

1 If two players both have straight flushes, flushes, or straights, the highest card that is part of the hand determines the winning hand. If the highest card still results in a tie then the next highest card will determine the winner. And so on...
2 If both players have a full house, then the highest 3 of a kind will determine the winner.
3 If both players have three of a kind the highest ranking three of a kind will be determined the winner.
4 The highest-ranking pair in the hand will decide two hands with two pair. If this still results in a tie then the remaining pairs will be compared and the highest-ranking pair will then decide the winner.
5 If both players have a single pair then the highest-ranking pair will win. If this is also a tie then next highest-ranking single card will determine the winner. If this still results in a tie then the next highest single ranking card will determine the winner. And so on...
6 Two hands with no pairs, flushes, or straights are compared and the card with the highest ranking single card will be determined the winner. If this still yields no winner then the next highest card will be determined the winner. And so on...

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