Part I: Games & Gaming · Slot Machines & Electronic Gaming

Jacks or Better

Video Poker

The foundational and most widely distributed video poker variant, in which the minimum paying hand is a pair of jacks. A full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better machine (full house pays 9, flush pays 6) offers an RTP of 99.54% with optimal play. The game’s straightforward pay table and well-documented optimal strategy make it the standard against which other video poker variants are compared. Jacks or Better is available in single-hand and multi-hand formats (Triple Play, Five Play, Ten Play, Fifty Play, Hundred Play) and across all standard denominations.

In practice

The “9/6” designation refers to the full house/flush payouts per credit bet — the two most critical pay table parameters for determining RTP. Even a single unit reduction (to 8/5) drops the RTP by over 2%.

One entry from the Casino Industry Glossary — 1,157 terms written for surveillance, compliance and operations professionals rather than for players. Definitions describe industry usage; where a term carries a regulatory meaning, verify against the instrument that governs your jurisdiction.