Hold a high pair or four to a straight?
Keep the high pair, even against an open-ended straight draw.
Average return per coin on Jacks or Better 9/6: Hold the pair 1.5365 · Hold four to a straight 0.7872.
Open this hand in the analyzerJacks or Better 9/6 strategy chart
The hand
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| Play | Cards held | Return per coin |
|---|---|---|
| Hold the pairBest | J♣ J♦ | 1.5365 |
| Hold four to a straight | J♣ Q♥ 10♠ 9♣ | 0.7872 |
Average coins back per coin bet on a five-coin bet, where a royal pays 4,000, counting every possible draw from the 47 cards left. Above 1.0000 the hold wins money on average.
Why
The pair of jacks is already a winner and improves often. Four to an open-ended straight completes only about one time in six, and the straight pays four for one on most machines, which isn’t close to enough to give up a paying pair.
Does the paytable change the answer?
The answer is the same on all 6 paytables below.
| Paytable | Hold the pair | Hold four to a straight |
|---|---|---|
| Jacks or Better 9/6 | 1.5365 | 0.7872 |
| Jacks or Better 8/5 | 1.5264 | 0.7872 |
| Bonus Poker 8/5 | 1.5264 | 0.7872 |
| Bonus Poker Deluxe 9/6 | 1.5293 | 0.7872 |
| Double Bonus Poker 10/7 | 1.4562 | 0.9574 |
| Double Double Bonus Poker 9/6 | 1.4461 | 0.7872 |
Average coins back per coin bet on a five-coin bet, where a royal pays 4,000, counting every possible draw from the 47 cards left. Above 1.0000 the hold wins money on average.