Paytables

Jacks or Better 9/6 Strategy: a 21 Line Hold Order, the 0.46% Edge and Why Four to a Flush Beats a Low Pair

On a full pay 9/6 Jacks or Better machine, perfect strategy returns 99.54% of money wagered, a house edge of 0.46%. Reaching that figure depends on two things: playing the five coin maximum, and holding cards in the fixed priority order below. The order matters most on a handful of hands where the intuitive hold is wrong, and those are worked through in the derivation. Rule assumptions Rule Setting Game Jacks or Better, single hand, 52 card deck, no wild cards Paytable 9/6 (full house 9, flush 6, per coin) Royal flush 800 per coin at five coins (4,000 total) Coins played Five Draw One draw from the 47 unseen cards Every figure below assumes this exact paytable. A machine paying 8 for a full house and 5 for a flush is a different game with a different chart and a lower return. The paytable and where the return comes from The table lists each hand's payout per coin, its frequency under optimal play, …