If you're not eager to do the work required to learn a perfect Jacks or Better strategy, you can still reduce the house edge considerably by keeping in mind the easy strategy tips in this article. You'll never become a professional video poker player using this strategy, but if you're just interested in having fun and possibly enjoying some comps, without having to get too involved in learning to play perfectly, then these tips will work fine.

• You never keep a kicker in Jacks or Better. If you hold onto a pair, draw all three other cards to increase your chances of getting a three of a kind or a four of a kind.
• Never draw to an inside straight.
• Never keep three cards to a straight or three cards to a flush.
• You might keep three cards to a straight flush if a potential royal flush is there, or if you don't have anything better to draw to.
• Keep two pair instead of trying to draw to four of a kind.
• Don't break a full house to try to get four of a kind.
• Let the machine deal you a winner. Most of them time, if you have a hand with a payoff, you'll at least hold on to that hand and take the guaranteed win.

Most of appropriate Jacks or Better strategy is just a simple matter of common sense, and the last tip, to let the machine deal you a winner, is one of the most important strategy tips for you to keep in mind. Also, you should make an effort to learn a complete Jacks or Better strategy at some point. It's not too difficult to do, and much of life's joy is in being able to do something really well.

You can also learn a complete strategy using our Jacks or Better video poker strategy chart and be sure to check our guide to full pay Jacks or Better in Las Vegas. You'll also enjoy our article about free video poker.

This page was written on  April 27, 2006 and was last updated on September 18, 2006.