If you have ever played five card draw poker then you know how to play video poker. Although you are dealing with software and not a live dealer, the principles are the same. You choose the cards that have the likelihood of being a winning hand and discard the rest. You are dealt cards to replace the discards and what you have now is your final hand. There are many variations on the game including wild cards that take the place of any card to form a winning hand, but they are all played the same basic way.

Jacks or Better is a very popular variation of poker. It is played the same basic way as any other video poker except that you can only form a winning combination that contains a pair of Jacks or higher. In other words, a pair of 10s won’t win anything but a pair of Aces would.

When playing Jacks or Better video poker, there are some things to keep in mind. First of all, don’t rush. This is software – there are no other players tapping their feet or a dealer waiting for you. Think about the odds when you choose which cards to hold and which to discard.

Remember that each hand has exactly the same odds when dealt. In other words, don’t start thinking in terms of “which cards are left in the deck” as that won’t hold true for video poker. Each hand starts with the same 52 cards just as if the dealer were using a brand new deck with each hand.

Finally, don’t forget that with Jacks or Better, just as any other video poker game, your best payouts only come when you place the maximum bet. By maxing your bet, you may lose 3 hands in a row but when you win on the next, it will payout a lot more than a single coin bet so you still come out ahead.