Should you hold a kicker with a low pair?

No. Hold just the pair and draw three cards.

Average return per coin on Jacks or Better 9/6: Hold just the pair 0.8237 · Hold the pair and the ace 0.6753.

Open this hand in the analyzer Jacks or Better 9/6 strategy chart

The hand

Play	Cards held	Return per coin
Hold just the pairBest	7♣ 7♦	0.8237
Hold the pair and the ace	7♣ 7♦ A♥	0.6753

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

Keeping the ace costs you a card: with two to draw instead of three, the pair makes trips, a full house or quads less often, and those are where its value is. The ace only helps when it pairs, and even then a pair of aces plus your sevens is just two pair.

Does the paytable change the answer?

The answer is the same on all 6 paytables below.

Paytable	Hold just the pair	Hold the pair and the ace
Jacks or Better 9/6	0.8237	0.6753
Jacks or Better 8/5	0.8135	0.6670
Bonus Poker 8/5	0.8135	0.6670
Bonus Poker Deluxe 9/6	0.8165	0.5541
Double Bonus Poker 10/7	0.7434	0.5347
Double Double Bonus Poker 9/6	0.7332	0.5264

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.

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The hand

Why

Does the paytable change the answer?

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