This is the text message I got this morning that woke me up: “Rose, can you send me a strategy for playing Jacks or Better?” My dear friend Sadie thinks that I’m her personal gambling tutor and keeps sending me text messages and emails that request information as if I was her Google. I told her several times that I would write about her one day if she kept doing that and today is her day.
However, not as a punishment, but more as a thank you note since she made me realize that Jacks or Better is one of those games that puzzle many people.
If you play online poker and have been playing Jacks or Better without a strategy, I’m sure you’re doing fine, but it is certain that to have a few tips under your sleeve is always a good idea to do better. And, if you have never played it, hop in and enjoy your first ride.
- Don’t break a full house trying to get 4 of a kind.
- Don’t break 2 pair trying to get 4 of a kind.
- Don’t hang onto a “kicker” ever. You want to maximize your chances of getting 3 or 4 of a kind. A big 2 pair doesn’t help your payout.
- Don’t draw to an inside straight. An inside straight is a straight where only 1 card can complete the straight. (As opposed to an outside straight, where 2 cards can complete the straight. Obviously this is twice as likely to happen.)
- Don’t draw to 3 cards to a royal flush unless you don’t have anything better to draw too.
- Don’t draw to 3 cards to a flush or to 3 cards to a straight. That’s a common rookie mistake.
Once you have tried playing with these tips, you can continue playing with this strategy card:
