Earlier, I mentioned that Jacks or Better is void of the bonus payouts seen in many other video poker variants. This is a definite plus for anybody who wants to avoid a complicated pay table with4-5 bonus payouts.
Below you can see a pay table for 9 / 6 Jacks or Better, which only includes basic poker hands:
In this version, normal poker hand ranks apply, but only winning hands of a pair of Jacks, or better count. For example, with basic poker, a pair of deuces can beat a single face card. In the Jacks or Better variation, the high face card would win, as doubles of anything from a pair of 10's and worse are counted as singles. 8-5 Jacks or Better Quick Quads 5-coin return 97.30% 6-coin return 97.72% 1 1 ROYAL FLUSH 85 BP 2 2 STRAIGHT FLUSH 3 3 FOUR of a KIND 4 4 FOUR of a KIND QQ 5 5 RF4 6 6 FULL HOUSE 7 7 FLUSH 8 8 THREE of a KIND 3-T with lower card (not half-value) 9 9 THREE of a KIND 2, 4, 6, with half-value lower card 10 10 THREE of a KIND 11 11 QT (pair 2, 4, 6. 8/5 Jacks or Better. While it is true that video poker aficionados will benefit the most from playing a full-pay version of Jacks or Better, sometimes it is difficult to find such an option. This is why players can often opt for an 8/5 version. This is a variation which can be easily spotted as the payouts for Full House and Flush have been. 8/5 Jacks or Better. An 8/5 Jacks or Better game only pays out 8 coins for a 1 coin bet on a full house, and 5 coins for a 1 coin bet on a flush. This drops the expected return on the game from a healthy 99.54% to an anemic 97.30%. 8/5 Jacks or Better is a very common variation of Jacks or Better that reduces the payout percentage to 97.30% - 2.24% worse than a full pay machine. Payouts for Full Houses and Flushes are reduced to 8x and 5x.
| Hand | 1 coin | 2 coins | 3 coins | 4 coins | 5 coins |
| Royal flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| Straight flush | 50 | 100 | 300 | 400 | 500 |
| 4 of a kind | 25 | 50 | 75 | 100 | 125 |
| Full house | 9 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 45 |
| Flush | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 30 |
| Straight | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| 3 of a kind | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| 2 pairs | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Jacks or better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
As you can see, payouts start with a pair or Jacks or Better and progress from there.
You can also see the royal flush’s disproportionate payout increase from a 4 to 5-coin bet.
The 3,000-coin difference on royal flush payouts is why you want to play all 5 coins on every hand.
7- Other Games are Based on Jacks or Better
The pay table above is important because it forms the basis for many other video poker games.
Of course, the difference in video poker variants comes from the pay tables. But if you fully understand the JoB pay schedule, then you’ll have an easier time adapting to other games.
8/5 Jacks Or Better Strategy
Let’s look at the pay table from 9 / 6 Double Double Bonus for an example:
| Hand | 1 coin | 2 coins | 3 coins | 4 coins | 5 coins |
| Royal flush | 400 | 800 | 1,200 | 1,600 | 4,000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| 4 aces + 2-4 | 400 | 800 | 1,200 | 1,600 | 2,000 |
| 4 2s-4s + A-4 | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| 4 aces | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| 4 2s-4s | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| 4 5s-Ks | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Full house | 9 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 45 |
| Flush | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 30 |
| Straight | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| 3 of a kind | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| 2 pairs | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Jacks or better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
8/5 Jacks Or Better Progressive
If you’ve never played video poker before or seen a pay table, then Double Double Bonus’ payouts can look like an intimidating mess.
But if you know JoB well, you only need to sort out the 5 bonus payouts for four-of-a-kind hands.
8/5 Jacks Or Better Strategy
This brings us back to point #6, in that JoB has a simpler pay table than most video poker games.