7 Sad Facts About Jacks or Better

For many video poker players Jacks or Better is the only game they want to play. It’s the variation of video poker that they started playing and they enjoy the comfort of a game they’re familiar with, like an old friend.

These gamblers usually know that a 9/6 Jacks or Better game is 1 of the best options in the casino, and the strategy is easier than most other video poker variations.

Jacks or Better is a great option for gamblers, but it’s not the perfect game. Here’s a list of 7 sad facts about Jacks or Better video poker that you need to know.

1 – It’s Not the Best Video Poker Variation

Just because a game is the most popular doesn’t mean that it’s the best option. While Jacks or Better is a good option for video poker players and gamblers in general, it isn’t even the best video poker variation.

Of course, there are different ways to determine or judge which game is best. The most common way to judge which casino options are the best is to look at the return to payer numbers for each game.

The gambling options with the highest return to player numbers are the games that give you the best chance to win.

The return to player on a 9/6 Jacks or Better game with god strategy is over 99.5%. This makes it easily a top 5 game in the casino. But Deuces Wild with a Not So Ugly Ducks pay table and good strategy offers an even higher return. A few other less popular video poker variations can offer a better return to player number depending on the pay table as well.

And there’s one other gambling option that also offers a higher return to player. Some blackjack games, depending on the set of rules and how well you use strategy, also offer a higher return to player number.

2 – Older Doesn’t Always Mean Better

Jacks or Better is the video poker variation that made video poker popular. This is the first game that many video poker players played, and there have been few video poker games introduced that are better.

In many ways it’s also the easiest video poker variation to play. The mix of nostalgia, ease of play, and a good return to player keeps Jacks or Better at the top of the popularity index. But older doesn’t always mean better.

Though Deuces Wild is also an old video poker game, it’s newer than Jacks or Better. Another video poker variation that offers a better return to player is Pick’em Poker, and it’s newer than Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild.

You might think that I don’t like Jacks or Better from what you’ve read so far. The truth is that I like Jacks or Better and that it’s still my favorite video poker variation. It’s 1 of the few casino games that I still play, but it’s not the best option for many gamblers.

3 – Too Many Bad Pay Tables

One of the best things about Jacks or Better is that it’s easy to look at the pay table and see if it’s a good game or not. Many video poker games have pay tables that are confusing. And if you don’t memorize several different pay tables you have to look up the information to determine if the pay table is good.

When you look at a Jacks or Better pay table you only need to look at two numbers. You need to look at how much the flush pays and how much the full house pays. Under the 5 coin heading, if the flush pays 30 and the full house pays 45, the pay table is good.

Any other numbers for these two hands and the pay table isn’t good. These hands pa 6 and 9 for a 1 coin wager, which is why the best pay table is usually called a 9/6 table.

It’s fairly easy to find 9/6 machines when you play at real money online casinos. But fewer and fewer of these pay tables can be found in live casinos. Most of the available machines don’t have the 9/6 pay table, so they shouldn’t be played.

4 – You Have to Use Strategy

Even when you can find a good Jacks or Better pay table, you have to use strategy to get a return to player over 99.5%. The good news is that the strategy isn’t too complicated, but it’s still harder to use than just guessing which way is the best to play each hand.

You should never play a video poker game if you don’t know how to use the best strategy. If you play Jacks or Better and don’t use strategy, instead of a 99.5% return you might only get 98% or worse.

While this might not seem like a big deal, it means that for every $100 you wager you lose an extra $1.50 or more. And when you’re betting $1.25 or $5 on every hand, it doesn’t take long to bet $100. In fact, many Jacks or Better gamblers routinely bet over $1,000 every time they play.

If you don’t know how to play Jacks or Better using strategy, pick up a strategy card in a casino shop or get a card online. Once you have a card it’s easy to use strategy every time you gamble.

5 – Not Enough Jacks or Better Machines

I mentioned in an earlier section that it’s hard to find Jacks or Better video poker machines with a good pay table. The fact is that not only is it hard to find a good pay table, but it’s getting harder to find Jacks or better machines at all.

Video poker machines have slowly been replaced by other gambling options that are more profitable for the casinos. Most casinos track their profits for every machine and square foot in the casino, and the casinos are always trying to increase these profits.

Video poker isn’t a big profit center for casinos. Slot machines are a big profit center. This is the main reason why many video poker games are being replaced by slot machines. I don’t expect this trend to reverse, so it’s going to be even harder to find Jacks or Better machines moving forward.

6 – Return to Player Never Gets to 100%

I’ve mentioned the return to player percentage a couple times because it’s the most important number you need to understand. This number dictates how much you’re going to lose over time when you gamble.

Unless the return to player number reaches 100% you’re playing a game that you can’t win. And all casino games are designed to have a return to player number under 100%.

You’re stuck trying to find games that have the highest return to player numbers, but it’s almost impossible to ever play with a percentage of 100% or higher. Jacks or Better is no different.

Even when you do everything right you can’t get the percentage to 100%. You simply can’t beat Jacks or Better video poker.

7 – Jacks or Better Bonuses Rarely Help

If you play Jacks or Better in a mobile casino or online casino you might be able to get a bonus. Most bonuses double your bankroll, which seems like a good deal at first. But these bonuses usually just let you play longer while doing nothing to help you win.

For example, you find a 9/6 Jacks or Better machine at a mobile casino and get a 100% match bonus on a $300 deposit. This gives you a bankroll of $600 to play with.

But the terms of the bonus say that you have to make wagers totaling at least $120,000 before you can withdrawal any money.

You can multiply the return to player percentage times the $120,000 to determine how much you can expect to get back. 99.5% times $120,000 is $119,400. If you subtract this from the $120,000 you find that you can expect to lose $600.

This means that by the time you meet the bonus requirements you’re probably going to run out of money. This is how most casino bonuses are set up to work.

Conclusion

Jacks or Better is 1 of the best games in the casino. But it still has several reasons why it’s not a great game. The 7 sad facts about Jacks or Better listed in this article show you why.

It’s hard to find a good Jacks or Better machine, and even when you find 1 you have to use strategy. And even if you use strategy you’re never going to get to 100% return to player. This means that you’re still going to lose more than you win.