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Playing Joker Poker: Basics
Before we delve into the Joker Poker strategy, you should know how this game works. Joker Poker is based on Jacks or Better, so it has the standard video poker format.
Its gameplay is derived from 5 Card Draw. The computer or the video poker machine deals five cards, and you’ll have to decide which ones you want to discard to make the best possible hand.
The cards you’ve chosen to eliminate will be replaced with new ones from the deck. Once you’re happy with the combination, you’ll press the Hold button. The game will pay out based on your hand’s ranking in its payout table.
The twist Joker Poker introduces into this gameplay is an extra card — the joker. Having more cards in the deck may not seem like an advantage, but in this scenario, it is. The extra joker acts like a wild card, which means it can substitute any other card from the deck. In that sense, it’s the strongest and the best card you can receive.
Besides this difference, Joker Poker also uses a modified hand ranking system. Most video poker variants rank two pairs or jacks or better as the lowest poker hands. However, a pair of kings comes in last in a few versions of Joker Poker. They might also offer larger payouts for five of a kind compared to the royal flush.
The exact ranking differs between the games, but you can see a general overview in the table below. The highest ranking hand is at the top.
| Hand ranking | Card combination |
|---|---|
| Royal flush | Suited ace, jack, queen, king, and a 10 |
| Straight flush | Five suited cards in consecutive order |
| Poker | Fours cards of the same rank |
| Full house | A pair of the same cards + three of a kind |
| Flush | Five cards of the same suit |
| Straight | Five cards in consecutive order |
| Three of a kind | Three cards with the same rank |
| Two pair | Two cards of the same rank |
| Pair of jacks or higher | Two jacks, queens, or kings |
Joker Poker Strategy
Now that you have the Joker Poker basics down, we can discuss how you ought to play this game. As you may know, video poker is one of the rare casino games with an exact payback percentage. Currently, most Joker Poker games bear a payout ratio of around 99%. However, that’s only the case when you’re playing with the perfect poker strategy.
The Joker Poker strategy you need to use varies depending on the pay table each Joker Poker features. You can find the most common ones below.
Joker Poker Kings or Better (JPKB)
| Winning Hand | Payoff Per 5 Coins Wagered |
|---|---|
| Natural Royal Flush | 4700 |
| 5 of a Kind | 1000 |
| Royal With Joker | 500 |
| Straight Flush | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 90 |
| Full House | 35 |
| Flush | 25 |
| Straight | 15 |
| Three of a Kind | 10 |
| Two Pairs | 5 |
| Pairs of Kings or Aces | 5 |
Joker Poker Two Pair (JP2)
| Winning Hand | Payoff Per 5 Coins Wagered |
|---|---|
| Natural Royal Flush | 5000 |
| 5 of a Kind | 500 |
| Royal With Joker | 250 |
| Straight Flush | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 100 |
| Full House | 40 |
| Flush | 35 |
| Straight | 25 |
| Three of a Kind | 10 |
| Two Pairs | 5 |
Joker Poker Two Pair With Five of Kind Jackpot (JP5K)
| Winning Hand | Payoff Per 5 Coins Wagered |
|---|---|
| 5 of a Kind | 4000 |
| Natural Royal Flush | 500 |
| Royal With Joker | 250 |
| Straight Flush | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 80 |
| Full House | 40 |
| Flush | 25 |
| Straight | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 10 |
| Two Pairs | 5 |
The first two pay tables offer 99.29% and 99.08% payback percentages, while the last one has an RTP of 97.19%. These differences might lead you to believe that the former two variants yield better results. Then again, their jackpot frequencies might change your mind.
Both Joker Poker kings or better and Joker Poker two pair provide the highest payouts for the royal hands. However, on average, they only come around once per 38,477 and 49,270 hands, respectively. A JP5K highest-ranking hand comes up three times as often — approximately every 10,994th hand. As a result, this might be the best version you can play if you can find it online.
The differences in strategy between Joker Poker variants are mainly due to lower-paying hands. We’ll discuss the method you should use in relation to some of them below.
10♣ 9♣ 8♣ 7♣ J
In JPKB, straights pay 15, and in JP5K, straight flushes pay 500 coins, so you should hold onto those four suited cards in these two variants. However, in JP2, where straights pay 250 and straight flushes 25, you’ll have better chances if you keep all five cards.
The returns you can expect from a 5-coin bet are 15 or 20.08 in JPKB, 23.33 or 25 in JP2, and 20 or 36.98 in JP5K, depending on whether you hit a straight or a straight flush.
K♦K♠9♦7♦5♦
A pair of kings is the hand you should keep in a JP5K game, but the diamond combo is better to hold onto in JP2 and JPKB.
They’ll result in a 7.29 payout as opposed to the 3.69 you get for kings in JP2 and a 5.21 payout compared to 3.74 in JPKB.
A♥Q♠10♦7♣6♠
The Crispin is your best shot with this card combo in a JPKB game. It’ll give you a 2.29 return on its own or 1.65 if paired with a queen or a 10.
You’ll have better odds if you hold onto a middle-of-the-deck card in JP2 and JP5K, as you might get a straight or a straight flush.
You’ll get the best payback by keeping a 10 in the former and a 7 in the latter Joker Poker version.
★K♥Q♥J♥3♥
The possibility of a joker royal may sway you to keep these cards, and you’d be right two out of three times.
It will pay 36.04 in JPKB and 40 in JP5K. However, you’ll get a better return if you aim for a flush in JP2 — 35 coins.
★A♠9♥6♦4♣
If you’re playing JPKB, you’ll want to keep the joker-ace combination for an 8.47 return.
Nevertheless, you’ll make more of a joker-9 pairing in the other two variants. The two cards will score a 6.56 average payout on JP2 and 6.41 on JP5K.
All in all, you should focus on catching any potential high-pair payback in JPKB. The other two versions of Joker Poker don’t offer these returns, so you’re free to discard high cards.
Conclusion
Joker Poker is one of the most interesting variations video poker offers, and it’s easy to master. With the knowledge of the optimal poker strategy and some practice, you can land some sizable wins. All you have to do is invest time and effort into finding the variant with the best pay table and try your luck at it.
FAQ
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