Guide to Playing Jackpot Poker Video Poker

Jackpot Poker video poker lets online video poker players try something that’s a little different than your average Jacks or Better game. The game comes equipped with a unique pay table that pumps up certain winning combinations while discounting others. There’s also a progressive mode of play that gives you the chance at a much higher jackpot than normal.

In the world of video poker, most variants are based on the standard game known as Jacks or Better. Jacks or Better was the first video poker game and is still one of the most popular. It’s easy to understand and has a pay table that rewards winning hands based on standard poker rankings.

Many video poker game creators have used Jacks or Better as the template for making variants that are just a little bit different. Some of these variants are found strictly in the world of online video poker, where people play the game for real money at top gambling websites. Jackpot Poker video poker is one of those online-only variants.

The Jackpot Poker Video Poker Difference

On the one hand, gameplay for Jackpot Poker video poker is pretty much the same as Jacks or Better. It still follows a Five-Card Draw format where you get the chance to improve on your original deal by drawing new cards from the deck. And the hands are still ranked according to typical poker rankings.

But the pay table changes things around a lot. For example, four of a kind and full house hands earn much more in Jackpot Poker video poker than they do in standard video poker. It forces you to rethink your strategy a bit when it comes to trying to achieve those hands.

In addition to that, Jackpot Poker video poker is played in five-play mode, meaning that you’ll be playing five hands on a single deal for a more fast-paced mode of play. On top of that, there is a progressive jackpot in play. If you get a royal flush with all hearts, you can win much more than the standard jackpot in Jacks or Better.

Discounts on Pay Table

Whenever a video poker game is adjusted in some way that favors the player, you also have to look for adjustments elsewhere in the game that are less beneficial. To make up for increased payback higher up the pay table and the progressive offer, Jackpot Poker video poker reduces your payback on some common hands. It also offers minimum payback on a pair of kings or better instead of jacks or better.

The game is geared toward big-splash paybacks coming up sporadically rather than steady paybacks throughout the game that might not be as impactful. It requires you to come prepared with a bigger bankroll if you want to play Jackpot Poker video poker for a long stretch. Otherwise, you’ll be much more likely to lose it all before you can hit one of the high-paying hands.

In the following article, we’ll tell you all you need to know about the game known as Jackpot Poker video poker. We’ll explain how to play a basic hand, show you how five-handed play works, and talk about the special pay table and progressive jackpot. On top of that, we’ll look into the expected payback and explain how you can play with top strategy.

The Advantages of Playing Video Poker

You might think that all casino games are alike in that they are set up to take money from the player. While it’s true that there’s a house edge built into most casino games, some of those games offer more benefits to players than others. In terms of what it delivers to players, video poker—including variants of it like Jackpot Poker video poker—is extremely friendly.

Perhaps this is because video poker offers a good mix of elements between slot machines and table games. Like slot machines, it’s a self-contained experience that requires just a single player. But like table games, it includes elements of strategy and solid payback potential over the long haul.

Take a look at all that’s waiting for you when you set up to play video poker:

• Video poker only requires one person to play. That means you can play at your own pace and leisure. It also means that you get ultimate privacy while you gamble.
• Video poker is a game that comes in many different styles. You can get as simple or as complex as you want with it. The bottom line is that there is certainly a style that will fit your preferred risk and reward levels.
• Video poker is an easy game for even newcomers to learn. You can really hit the ground running if you’re someone who has a little bit of experience playing poker. But even without that, the learning curve for video poker isn’t steep at all.
• Video poker is a game that includes a strategic element. That’s one of the big differences between video poker and slot machines. People who don’t know better tend to lump them together in the same category. But slot machines give no control over whether you win or lose.
• Video poker is a transparent experience. The pay tables show you what to expect in terms of return on winning hands. And the probability of making those winning hands can be figured out as well thanks to the use of an unchanging 52-card deck.
• Video poker payback ranks with the best casino games. In terms of both short-term jackpots and long-term profit potential, it’s hard to top video poker. If you choose your game well, you could actually hope to make a profit over the long haul.
• Video poker is one of the best casino games for online play. That’s because you don’t lose anything in the translation from casinos to top gambling websites. There are even variants like Jackpot Poker video poker that can only be found online, which gives the online players something extra.

These are just some of the benefits of playing video poker. When you experience it for yourself, you’ll likely find other reasons that you love it. But first you need to learn how to play, if you haven’t already done so.

How to Play Video Poker

Step 1: Establish a Bankroll

If you’re going to play video poker for real money, you have to put money at stake. That means putting a bankroll in place. Since Jackpot Poker video poker is an online game, it means creating an account at a gambling website and funding that account with a credit card, e-wallet, cryptocurrency, or some another accepted method.

Your bankroll will rise with your winnings and fall each time you make a bet. For most video poker games, your bankroll will be expressed in units, sometimes called credits or coins, that are based on the denomination that you happen to be playing. For example, if you’re playing a 25-cent game and win 10 credits, it means you’ve won $2.50 (10 times $2.50).

Step 2: Make a Bet

Most video poker games require you to make a bet between one and five credits when you play a hand. The best strategy in games like this is to make the five-credit bet on every hand. That’s also known as the “max bet”, and it unlocks the best possible payback for the royal flush.

But with Jackpot Poker video poker, you’ll actually be playing five hands at a time. That means you have to make a bet on each hand. As a result, here is what the total cost will be for each size bet:

• 1 coin per 5 hands = 5 coins
• 2 coins per 5 hands = 10 coins
• 3 coins per 5 hands = 15 coins
• 4 coins per 5 hands = 20 coins
• 5 coins per 5 hands = 25 coins

You might think that betting 25 coins per hand is a bit too much for your budget. But Jackpot Poker video poker gives you a couple incentives for doing it. Not only is top pay on the royal flush only accessible with the max bet, but it’s also the only way you can win the progressive jackpot.

If you bet less than five coins per hand playing Jackpot Poker video poker, you’ll lower your potential payback by a significant margin. For that reason, we would suggest finding a denomination where you can make the 25-coin wager comfortably. That will allow you to keep the maximum potential payback in place.

Step 3: Play a Hand

We’ve already told you that Jackpot Poker video poker requires you to play five hands at once. But before you can do that, you have to learn how to play a single hand of video poker. That’s what we’ll talk about it here, then we’ll get into five-handed play in a section below.

Video poker is basically a simulation of the card game known as Five-Card Draw. In Five-Card Draw, you receive five cards on the deal, decide which cards to hold or discard, and then draw new cards to replace the discards. It’s the same rhythm of play in video poker.

But Five-Card Draw requires you to beat everybody at the table to win the pot. Video poker has just one player “at the table,” so to speak. As a result, you just have to achieve one of the winning combinations on the pay table, which, for Jackpot Poker video poker, include the following:

• Pair of jacks or better
• Two pair
• Three of a kind
• Straight (five cards of consecutive rank, like 3-4-5-6-7)
• Flush (five cards of same suit)
• Full house (three of a kind and two pair in the same hand)
• Four of a kind
• Straight flush (straight with five cards of same suit)
• Royal flush (ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of the same suit)
• Royal flush with hearts

These winning combinations are listed from the ones that pay the least (on top) to the ones that pay the least (on the bottom). The reason why some hands pay more than others is because they are harder to achieve. As a result, video poker decisions always come down to a matter of risk versus reward, as in deciding whether to play it safe with low-paying hands or go for broke with higher-paying hands that you might have a hard time achieving.

The Deal

Video poker hands begin after the bet when you press the button (or click on the icon) activating the deal. At that point, five cards will appear on your screen. These cards will come from the simulation of a 52-card deck, with the same cards included as you would find in a standard deck.

The Decision

As we mentioned, your goal in playing video poker is to make one of the winning combinations on the pay table. While luck will certainly be involved, you have a chance to improve your chances of winning with the decisions you make. The main decision is figuring out which cards to hold and which cards to discard out of each deal.

If you hold a card, it will be a part of your final hand, so it has to be helpful to you in some way. A discarded card, meanwhile, will be replaced on the draw. The replacement card will come from the deck which gave you the deal holding 47 cards at that point (the original 52 minus the 5 that were dealt).

How should you decide on the holds and discards? Always keep these two things in mind:

• What chances do you have of making some sort of winning combination based on what you were dealt and what remains in the deck?
• What potential payback could you earn by striving for certain hands?

When you first start playing, it might take you some time to process all this. Once you’ve played video poker for a while, you’ll find decisions like this take just a matter of seconds.

The Draw

Once you’ve made your choice, you’ll click on each card that you wish to hold (if any). If you don’t make any indication concerning a card, that card will be discarded. Your decision is final once you hit the draw button, so make sure your choices indicate exactly what you wanted before taking that step.

When you do hit the “draw” button, the cards that you’ve discarded (if any) will be replaced with others from the deck. That completes the hand, and any winnings that you accomplished will be added to your bankroll. You can then start the whole process all over again on the next hand.

Playing Five Hands at Once

The process for five-handed play on Jackpot Poker video poker is based on playing just a single hand. You’ll still be getting five cards on the deal and making a single decision about what to hold and what to discard. But that decision will get played out over multiple hands.

After you make your decision about what to hold and discard from the deal, five separate draws will take place. These five draws will come form five separate decks that all have the same 47 cards in them. They’ll be shuffled differently by the random number generator, ensuring unique results for each draw.

Let’s take a look at how this process works. Imagine receiving this deal in Jackpot Poker video poker:

There aren’t any winning combinations in this deal right off the bat. But there are several different clusters of cards that are close to being winners. You just have to decide which, when you combine the two factors we listed above, is most valuable.

You could:

• Hold the pair of fives. That would give you a head start to drawing two pair, three of a kind, a full house, or four of a kind. You’d be drawing three cards in this instance.
• Hold the four hearts. Doing this would put you in range of a flush. But you’d only be drawing one card, which means that it’s a bit of an all-or-nothing scenario for what is a relatively modest-paying hand.
• Hold the five, six, and seven of hearts. Doing this would open you up to a wide variety of winning hands with the two cards you’d be drawing. The highest-paying of those winning possibilities is the straight flush, which offers one of the biggest payback amounts of any video poker hand.

For the sake of our example, let’s imagine that you decided on the final option and holding the five, six, and seven of hearts. When you hit the button to hold each, you’ll see them appear in each of the five hands on the screen in the same position. This is an indication that they’ll be part of all five of your hands.

The five draws will then take place when you hit the “draw” button. Take a look at one example of how they might turn out:

Hand 1:

Hand 2:

Hand 3:

Hand 4:

Hand 5:

This hand worked out very well for you. Look at the results:

• Hand 1: Three of a kind
• Hand 2: Flush
• Hand 3: Two pair
• Hand 4: Nothing
• Hand 5: High pair

You’d be able to collect winnings on four of the five hands. Also note that you drew the six of spades in two of the hands. This can happen because there are the same cards in each draw deck, even if they are separately shuffled.

This is an example where the five-play mode in Jackpot Poker video poker gives you the chance to win at a much faster rate than if you were playing just a hand at a time. But you have to remember that the opposite could happen. You might lose all five hands at once on some occasions, which would mean you take a 25-coin hit if you make the max bet.

Whenever you play a multi-hand version of video poker like Jackpot Poker, you have to be prepared for a more volatile style of play. The shifts between highs and lows in your bankroll will be frequent. And as you’re about to see, the Jackpot Poker video poker pay table contributes to raising that volatility even higher.

Jackpot Poker Video Poker Pay Table

Whenever you play video poker, you should make yourself acquainted with the pay table. It’s a crucial piece of information, in that it will tell you what your strategy should be. In addition, it will reveal to you what style of you can expect with respect to volatility.

In the case of Jackpot Poker video poker, you’ll be able to see how the pay table is influenced to some degree by Jacks or Better. But you’ll also see the many ways that it diverges from it as well. Understanding what those differences mean will help you determine if it’s the right game for you.

Take a look at the pay table for Jackpot Poker video poker:

Jackpot Poker

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Hearts royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	Progressive
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Straight flush	200	400	600	800	1,000
Four of a kind	75	150	225	300	375
Full house	17	34	51	68	85
Flush	6	12	18	24	30
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of a kind	2	4	6	8	10
Two pairs	1	2	3	4	5
Kings or better	1	2	3	4	5

To read the pay table, just connect the rows for the different winning hands with the columns for the amount bet. For example, if you made a straight flush with a five-coin bet, connecting those two reveals the number “1,000.” That means you would win 1,000 coins for that hand with that bet.

You’ll also notice that the word “progressive” in the space for a royal flush with all hearts on a five-coin bet. A progressive jackpot is one that keeps rising until somebody in a predetermined group of players hits it, at which it resets to the base level (in this case 4,000 coins). For Jackpot Poker video poker, that group would be the people who are playing the game at a specific website.

As we said, Jackpot Poker video poker jumps off the template created by Jacks or Better. Take a look at one of the most popular versions of a Jacks or Better pay table:

Jacks or Better

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a kind	25	50	75	100	125
Full house	9	18	27	36	45
Flush	6	12	18	24	30
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pairs	2	4	6	8	10
Jacks or better	1	2	3	4	5

You’ll see that the hierarchy of the hands in the two pay tables is pretty much the same in that they follow poker rankings. But there are differences that are obvious to see. For instance, Jackpot Poker video poker has the progressive jackpot for the hearts royal flush, something that isn’t included in Jacks or Better.

You’ll also note that there are several hands that offer much higher payback potential in the Jackpot Poker video poker, most of which are higher up in the pay table. Take a look.

Hand/Payback	Jacks or Better	Jackpot Poker
Full flush	9 to 1	500
Four of a kind	25 to 1	75 to 1
Straight flush	50 to 1	200 to 1

These are huge differences, all in the favor of Jackpot Poker video poker. But if you look further down the pay table, you’ll see that Jacks or Better has some advantages of which it can boast as well.

First of all, a pair of jacks is the minimum winning hand in Jacks or Better. But in Jackpot Poker video poker, a pair of kings fills that role. In other words, a pair of jacks and a pair of queens, which will get you even-money in Jacks or Better, get you noting in Jackpot Poker.

Then there are some crucial differences with the payback of a pair of common winning hands. Take a look:

Hand/Payback	Jacks or Better	Jackpot Poker
Two pair	2 to 1	1 to 1 (even money)
Three of a kind	3 to 1	2 to 1

You might not think that these seemingly small differences will have much of an impact. But regular video poker players will be able to tell you that these discrepancies mean a lot because those are winning hands that will show up often during the course of game play. Every time you manage one of those hands during Jackpot Poker video poker gameplay, you’ll be earning a little less than the norm.

Those are the winning hands that help to keep your bankroll steady while you’re hoping for one of the higher-paying hands. What that means is you’ll sometimes struggle with that bankroll, especially when the higher-paying hand don’t come. Of course, you’re more likely to get one of those higher-paying hands in this game, so you can see there is a trade-off.

If you’re going to play Jackpot Poker video poker on a regular basis, you’ll need to make sure you come with a big bankroll so that you can hang tough through the slumps. Otherwise, you might lose your bankroll before you can enjoy the big payback. Players who want to play for a long time on a small bankroll should consider another video poker variation.

Jackpot Poker Video Poker Payback Percentage

Payback percentage is the aspect of video poker that essentially tells you how you can expect to make on average. That last phrase, “on average,” is the big part of it. Just because a game has a certain payback percentage, it doesn’t mean you’ll achieve the same results when you play.

Over a short span of play, luck will have a major impact on your payback playing a video poker game like Jackpot Poker video poker. You might get lucky and hit the progressive jackpot on the very first hand, which would send your payback through the roof. Or you might lose your first 20 hands, which will put your payback percentage at zero.

Over time, however, the percentages will even out, and your results will come close to what the probabilities of winning hands and the payback attached to those winning hands indicate. The key to understanding the payback with Jackpot Poker video poker is that it will change depending on where the progressive jackpot stands.

Progressive Payback

At the minimum payback level for the progressive jackpot, the payback percentage for Jackpot Poker video poker stands at approximately 93.2%. That puts the house edge at approximately 6.8%. What does that mean for your bankroll?

• $1,000 to start = $932 remaining ($68 loss)
• $10,000 to start = $9,320 remaining ($680 loss)
• $100,000 to start = $93,200 remaining ($6,800 remaining)

As you can tell, the expected loss at that level is pretty high. But it will only be at the minimum right after someone is able to hit the progressive jackpot with the royal flush with hearts. At that point, it begins to rise, and the expected payback begins to rise with it.

That’s why, if you’re going to try to make a profit playing Jackpot Poker video poker, you should always keep an eye on where the progressive jackpot stands at the different websites you might play it. When you see it’s well above the minimum, that’s the ideal time to strike. At that point, you’ll have to consider trying to het that jackpot if at all possible, which is all part of the strategy for the game.

Strategy for Jackpot Poker Video Poker

As is the case with the payback percentage, strategy for Jackpot Poker video poker is somewhat flexible. It will depend where the jackpot for the hearts royal flush. Aside from that, you need to adjust for the other differences in the pay table as well.

Many novice players make the mistake of playing all video poker variations the same. But there will be certain hands that you should be playing differently in Jackpot Poker video poker than you would in Jacks or Better. And that all comes down to the changes in the pay table.

Your goal is to make the right holds and discards for Jackpot Poker video poker no matter what you get on the deal. If you do this, you can maximize your payback percentage. But if you make mistakes, at least according to the math of each hand, your expected payback will drop.

Playing for the Jackpot

As we said above, the status of the Jackpot Poker video poker progressive jackpot will have a major impact on your play. When the jackpot rises past certain thresholds, it will change the way that you should be playing certain hands. Once that jackpot goes to high levels, you have to sell out, so to speak, to try to achieve it.

We’re not saying you should be looking for a hearts royal flush on every single hand. But take a look at the following deal to see what we mean:

As you can see, you have two pair to start here. Your first reaction might be to hold the two pair, which would lock in payback. You’d also have the chance at a full house, which we know pays exceedingly well on a Jackpot Poker video poker pay table.

But what if the jackpot was triple its original level? You might then have to look at this hand differently. Since you already have the 10, jack, and ace of hearts, you might reach a point where your best play here, mathematically, would be to discard the 10 of clubs and jack of diamonds, give up the sure-thing winning combination, and hope you draw the queen and king of hearts for the hand that induces the jackpot.

How can you know when to make these strategic switches? We suggest you use video poker calculators. They’ll let you input the information and find out the right plays in special situations.

Getting Strategic Help for Jackpot Poker Video Poker

Learning all the right plays for a game like Jackpot Poker video poker is next to impossible without getting some help. The math will simply get too complicated. You’re likely to make mistakes that will cost you some of your payback over time.

Instead, we suggest you have somebody else do all the hard work for you. Many video poker experts have gone through the trouble of coming up with computer programs which will run through all the possibilities and the math. You can then piggyback off their results.

We suggest that you use one of the two following methods to learn perfect strategy for Jackpot Poker video poker.

Video Poker Training Software

This is probably the best way to learn if you’re new to video poker as a whole. The reason for that is you can learn to play the game in general while you’re getting the strategy for a specific game like Jackpot Poker video poker. You can play hands of video poker, learn to control your bankroll and just basically get a feel for the game.

There are many ways you can learn strategy from the software. You can ask for hints, be alerted when you make a mistake, or even have the software play for you on difficult hands. After you practice like this for a while, you’ll be ready to play Jackpot Poker video poker for real money.

Strategy Charts

With a strategy chart, you can learn strategy for a game like Jackpot Poker video poker much quicker. You have to make sure the chart is tuned to the specifics of the pay table. And then you have to take the time to memorize it, so that all the right plays will be in your head when you need them.

The strategy chart will have the different combinations of cards you might receive on the deal ranked. These rankings will be based on those cards value going into the draw. After you have this memorized, you’ll know which cards are most valuable in every deal that you receive.

Pros and Cons Jackpot Poker Video Poker

Conclusion

Jackpot Poker video poker gives you a chance to take on a pay table like Jacks or Better but with some interesting alterations. Your chances at big winning hands are greatly increased. And the progressive payback can rise to a point where you can really hit it big in a single hand.