Jacks or Better Intermediate Poker Strategy

The Jacks or Better poker strategy you need to learn

We’ve taught you all the dos and don’ts in the Jacks or Better Simple Poker Strategy, now it’s time we moved on to the next one.

As we’ve mentioned in our previous article, there are more than one Jacks or Better strategies. As a matter of fact there are countless, depending on variants and so on.

But what you must learn are the most basic ones, and this one that we are about to teach you, is one that you mustn’t miss out on.

The Intermediate Jacks or Better poker strategy, if used on a full pay machine, offers a 99.52% return, with an error margin value of 0.03%.

Before checking out the list, make sure you’re familiar with the Jacks or Better lingo:

A high card is a Jack, Queen, King or ace and they are retained more due to the fact that if they are paired up, they return the initial bet in full.

An outside straight is an open ended straight flush which you can complete on both starts and finish of the hand with a 7, 8, 9, or 10 card.

An inside straight refers to a hand that is missing one card in the middle. That card could be a 6, 7, 9, 10 card or one of the following: an A, 2, 3, 4 or J, Q, K, A as they are at extreme ends.

A straight Flush Draw – type 1 is a straight flush draw in which the number of gaps and the number of high cards are equal.

A straight flush draw – type 2 is one of the following: either a one gap or no high cards, either a hand formed of 2-3-4, either two gaps and one high card or an ace low.

A straight flush draw – type 3 is a regular straight flush draw that has no high cards and two gaps.

Below you have the list of all possible plays, displayed according to the hand’s strength. Try to achieve one of the hands listed below and choose the one highest on the list.  

1)      Four of a kind, straight flush, royal flush

2)      4 to a royal flush

3)      Three of a kind, straight, flush, full house

4)      4 to a straight flush

5)      Two pair

6)      High pair

7)      3 to a royal flush

8)      4 to a flush

9)      Low pair

10)   4 to an outside straight

11)   3 to a straight flush (type 1)

12)   AKQJ unsuited

13)   2 suited high cards

14)   4 to an inside straight with 3 high cards

15)   3 to a straight flush (type 2)

16)   KQJ unsuited

17)   QJ unsuited

18)   JT suited

19)   KQ, KJ unsuited

20)   QT suited

21)   AK, AQ, AJ unsuited

22)   KT suited

23)   One high card

24)   3 to a straight flush (type 3)

25)   Discard everything if you do not have any of the hands mentioned above

Now that you’ve mastered the basic strategy rules, it’s time for practice. Play as much as you can and exercise this Jacks or Better Intermediate poker strategy until you become a pro.