Jacks or Better Draw Poker by Pragmatic Play

Play Jacks or Better Draw Poker Live Here

Cashed Casino

4.6/5

Casino Palace

4.1/5

Mr Green

4.5/5

Jacks or Better Draw Poker Review

Game Specifications
Game name	Jacks or Better Draw Poker
Game provider	Pragmatic Play
Game type	Poker
Streaming from
RTP	99.54%
Bet range	€0.10 - €10,000
Max win	20,000x
Side bets	Yes
Supported platforms
Supported OS
Languages	Arabic Bulgarian Czech Danish Dutch English +20 All supported languages Arabic Bulgarian Czech Danish Dutch English Finnish French German Hebrew Hindi Indonesian Italian Japanese Korean Malay Mandarin Persian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Spanish Swedish Thai Ukrainian

Jacks or Better is a common variant of video poker – a staple of poker machines since the 1970s whose appeal lies in its unique position between skill-based poker and the accessibility of slot machines.

Unlike traditional poker, where you compete against other players, video poker pits you against a fixed paytable, removing psychological elements while retaining strategic decision-making. While this makes it significantly different from the game you play on traditional poker tables, the same can be said for casino poker variants such as Caribbean Stud or 3-Card Poker.

Pragmatic Play’s entry into live poker comes relatively late compared to their extensive portfolio of live dealer games. The company already operates over 250 live casino games, including dozens of baccarat tables, more than 150 blackjack variations, and multiple game shows. Jacks or Better Draw Poker and Casino Hold’em, both released in 2025, are the first real move into the poker niche we’ve seen from them in years.

However, instead of common live casino variants such as Caribbean Stud or 3-Card Poker, Pragmatic has decided to adapt a common form of video poker into a live casino setting. However, unlike Evolution’s Video Poker Live, this variant uses actual cards.

What sets this apart from RNG video poker is the live dealer element. Rather than watching digital cards appear on screen, a professional dealer physically shuffles and deals cards from an actual deck. This bridges the gap between video poker machines and traditional live casino games, offering authenticity and transparency that appeals to players who prefer seeing physical cards in action.

Essentially a Jacks or Better video poker that uses real cards instead of RNG

Players win fixed payouts based on the strength of their 5-card poker hand, requiring at least a pair of Jacks

You can swap up to 5 cards per round

Uses a 9/6 paytable, which ensures an exceptionally high RTP

Jackpot side bet that can pay up to 20,000x for rare hands, but has a comparatively low RTP

Streamed 24/7 from a dedicated Pragmatic live casino studio

How to Play Jacks or Better Draw Poker

The gameplay follows the classic five-card draw video poker format that poker machine veterans will recognize immediately. However, understanding the complete process is essential for new players or those transitioning from other live casino games.

Basic Gameplay Flow

Every round of Jacks or Better Draw Poker follows this sequence:

Step 1: Place Your Bet
Use the chips in the interface to select the size of your stake, and place them on the main betting position. You may also choose to place the optional Jackpot side bet at this stage.

Step 2: Initial Deal
The dealer physically deals five cards face-up from a shuffled 52-card deck. These cards are displayed clearly on screen, representing your starting hand.

Step 3: Hold Decision
This is the critical strategic moment. You must decide which cards (if any) to keep and which to discard. You can hold anywhere from zero to all five cards. Simply click or tap on the cards you wish to hold before the rime runs out.

Step 4: The Draw
After confirming your hold selections, the dealer discards your unwanted cards and replaces them with new ones from the same deck. Your final five-card hand is now complete.

Step 5: Payout
The dealer evaluates your final hand. If it contains at least a pair of Jacks, you win according to the paytable. Anything less than Jacks results in a loss of your bet. Side bet outcomes are resolved separately.

❗ Choosing to hold (or discard) all five cards in every round is referred to as “simplified strategy” and it offers 96.69% RTP. In the long term, it’s a very sub-optimal way to play, but it’s still in line with online slots and similar games.

Understanding Poker Hand Rankings

Jacks or Better uses standard poker hand rankings, from weakest to strongest:

Pair of Jacks or Better: Two cards of the same rank (J-J, Q-Q, K-K, or A-A). Lower pairs (2-2 through 10-10) do not qualify for payouts.
Two Pair: Two separate pairs (e.g., 8-8-K-K-3).
Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same rank (e.g., 7-7-7-A-4).
Straight: Five consecutive cards of mixed suits (e.g., 5-6-7-8-9). Aces can be high (10-J-Q-K-A) or low (A-2-3-4-5).
Flush: Five cards of the same suit, non-consecutive (e.g., 2♣ 5♣ 9♣ J♣ K♣).
Full House: Three of a kind plus a pair (e.g., 6-6-6-Q-Q).
Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank (e.g., 10-10-10-10-K).
Straight Flush: Five consecutive cards of the same suit (e.g., 4♦ 5♦ 6♦ 7♦ 8♦).
Royal Flush: 10-J-Q-K-A of the same suit. The highest possible hand.

❗ Critical Rule: Unlike games such as Texas Hold’em, you cannot use your cards in different combinations. Your final five cards must form exactly one hand, and that hand must be at least a pair of Jacks to receive any payout from the base game.

The Jackpot Side Bet

Pragmatic Play’s Jacks or Better includes an optional Jackpot side bet, one of the game’s distinguishing features compared to traditional video poker machines. This side wager evaluates specific strong hands formed during the flop (your initial five cards) and offers substantially higher payouts than the base game.

The Jackpot side bet is placed before cards are dealt and remains active regardless of your hold decisions. It pays based solely on your initial five-card hand, before any cards are discarded and replaced. Only three hand types qualify for Jackpot payouts:

Iinitial Hand	Payout
Straight (Initial Five Cards)	100x
Four of a Kind (Initial Five Cards)	1,000x
Straight Flush (Initial Five Cards)	20,000x

According to Pragmatic Play, the maximum 20,000x Jackpot win is expected to hit approximately once every 45 days on average across all tables. This suggests the Straight Flush appears roughly once per 64,974 hands dealt (72,193 possible five-card combinations ÷ 40 possible straight flushes = 1 in 1,804.8 odds, adjusted for multiple players).

Optimal Strategy for Jacks or Better

Unlike games such as roulette or baccarat where every bet has a fixed house edge regardless of your decisions, video poker rewards skilled play. The difference between random guessing and optimal strategy in Jacks or Better is approximately 4-5% in RTP—the difference between 95% and 99.54%.

The complete optimal strategy is quite detailed, but a simplified approach sacrifices only about 0.08% in RTP while being much easier to memorize and apply. Here’s the simplified strategy chart. To use it, simply keep any cards that fill the listed criteria. The chart lists cards to hold in order of priority.

Simplified Jacks or Better Strategy

1. Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind: Keep all five cards (pat hands)
2. Four cards to a Royal Flush: Discard the fifth card, even if it makes a paying hand
3. Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind: Keep the pat hand
4. Four cards to a Straight Flush: Draw one card to complete it
5. Two Pair: Hold both pairs, draw one card
6. Pair of Jacks or Better: Hold the high pair, draw three cards
7. Three cards to a Royal Flush: Draw two cards
8. Four cards to a Flush: Draw one card to complete the flush
9. Low Pair (2s through 10s): Hold the pair, draw three cards
10. Four cards to an Outside Straight: Draw one card (e.g., 7-8-9-10)
11. Two cards to a Royal Flush: If both are high cards (J-Q, J-K, J-A, Q-K, Q-A, K-A)
12. Three cards to a Straight Flush: Draw two cards
13. Two unsuited high cards: Hold both, draw three
14. One high card: Hold it, draw four cards
15. Nothing: Discard all five cards and draw five new ones

Key Strategic Principles

Always Hold Pat Hands: If you’re dealt a paying hand, keep it unless you have four cards to a Royal Flush. Even then, only break a Flush or Straight if four cards to a Royal are present.
Prioritize Royal Flush Draws: The Royal Flush’s 4,000-coin payout (at max bet) is so valuable that you’ll sacrifice made hands to pursue it. Four cards to a Royal takes priority over everything except Royal Flush and Straight Flush. Three cards to a Royal beats low pairs.
Low Pairs Are Valuable: A pair of 2s through 10s doesn’t qualify for a payout by itself, but it has positive expected value because it can improve to Two Pair, Three of a Kind, Full House, or Four of a Kind. Always hold low pairs unless you have a better option like four to a Flush or four to a Straight.
High Cards Matter: Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces are called “high cards” because pairing them creates an immediate paying hand. When you have no made hand or strong draws, hold high cards. If you have multiple high cards, keep all of them if they’re the same suit (straight and flush potential), or keep two if they’re unsuited.
Never Hold Three Cards to a Straight: Hands like 7-8-9 with two gaps aren’t worth holding. The expected value of drawing five fresh cards is better.
Never Hold a Kicker: In games like Jacks or Better, there’s never a reason to hold extra cards with a pair. If you’re dealt K-K-A-9-4, hold only the two Kings and draw three cards. The Ace “kicker” reduces your chances of improving without adding value.

Common Strategy Mistakes

Even players familiar with poker often make costly errors in video poker. Here are the most common mistakes to avoid:

Breaking Low Pairs for Straight Draws: If you’re dealt 5-5-6-7-8, the correct play is to hold the pair of 5s, not the four-card straight. The pair has higher expected value.
Holding Three to a Flush: Three cards of the same suit aren’t worth holding unless they’re also three to a Straight Flush or three to a Royal Flush. Draw five fresh cards instead.
Holding Inside Straights: Four cards to an inside straight (e.g., 6-7-9-10 missing the 8) are only worth holding if you have zero high cards. Otherwise, holding the high card(s) is better.

Pros and Cons of Jacks or Better Draw Poker by Pragmatic Play

Pros

Cons

✅ 99.54% RTP with optimal play, among the best in any casino game

✅ Live dealing provides transparency and authenticity

✅ Jackpot side bet that can pay up to 20,000x

✅ Live tips and an auto-hold feature that can help beginners

✅ Excellent graphics and smooth, fast gameplay

❌ Significantly slower in terms of hands per hour than RNG video poker

❌ The Jackpot side bet has substantially worse odds than base game

❌ Optimal strategy requires study and practice

Payouts

Understanding the exact payouts and return rates is crucial for making informed decisions in Jacks or Better.

Pragmatic Play uses the full pay 9/6 paytable, which is considered the gold standard for this game.

Hand	Payout
Main Bet Payouts
Royal Flush	800x
Straight Flush	50x
Four of a Kind	25x
Full House	9x
Flush	6x
Straight	4x
Three of a Kind	3x
Two Pairs	2x
Pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Aces	1x
Jackpot Side Bet Payouts
Straight Flush	20,000x
Four of a Kind	1,000x
Straight	100x

RTP Breakdown

The theoretical return to player for full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better is 99.54% when playing with the optimal strategy. Discarding 0 or all 5 cards in every round results in an RTP of 96.69%, while the worst you can theoretically do is to randomly guess which cards you’ll keep, which brings down the RTP to around 95%.

However, this assumes perfect play on every hand. Deviations from the optimal strategy reduce RTP. Common mistakes typically drop actual RTP to around 98.5-99.0% for casual players who rely on intuition rather than strategy charts.

🔎 Paytable Variations: Not all Jacks or Better games use the 9/6 full pay paytable. Common variations include 9/5 (98.45% RTP), 8/6 (98.39% RTP), 8/5 (97.30% RTP), and 7/5 (96.15% RTP). Always verify the paytable before playing. The full pay 9/6 version that Pragmatic offers is significantly better than these alternatives.

Stats & Probability

Players can expect to win Jacks or Better in just over 45% of all rounds. However, around 21.5% of those are a Pair, which essentially counts as just a Push, which means the probability of winning Jacks or Better is around 23.5%.

However, the winning hand is just as important as the win because it determines the payout. The table below lists the probability of all winning hands in Jacks or Better Draw Poker. We’ve also included a frequency rate to better illustrate how likely these outcomes are.

Hand	Probability (Optimal Play)	Frequency
Royal Flush	0.0025%	1 in 40,390 hands
Straight Flush	0.011%	1 in 9,148 hands
Four of a Kind	0.23%	1 in 423 hands
Full House	1.15%	1 in 87 hands
Flush	1.10%	1 in 91 hands
Straight	1.12%	1 in 89 hands
Three of a Kind	7.44%	1 in 13 hands
Two Pair	12.92%	1 in 8 hands
Jacks or Better	21.45%	1 in 5 hands
No Win	54.54%	Every other hand

New to Live Video Poker?

Remember that LiveCasinos.com isn’t here just for live casino game reviews. We also handle guides and strategies, helping you get the best start possible. Video Poker is completely based on luck and random chance, however, so your strategies are limited. Make sure to mind your money management and never spend more than you can afford to lose.

Make sure to choose the game that suits your taste and budget. For more extensive guides on live casino games, check out this page.

Interface and Usability

The betting interface prioritizes clarity and efficiency. Coin denomination selection is straightforward, with clear indicators showing your current bet level. The Jackpot side bet has its own clearly labelled betting position, making it simple to include or exclude as desired.

Once cards are dealt, the hold mechanism is intuitive. Each card has a dedicated Hold button directly beneath it. Selected cards are highlighted with a “HELD” indicator, providing clear visual feedback.

The game history and statistics panel appears in the corner of the screen, tracking your recent hands and overall session statistics. This includes basic information like hands played, hands won, and current return percentage. While not strategically significant—past results don’t influence future outcomes—these stats provide interesting insight into your session’s progression.

Settings menus offer standard customization options including sound controls, video quality adjustments, and game speed preferences. The interface also includes quick access to the complete paytable, ensuring you can verify payouts at any moment without interrupting gameplay.

Live Dealer Experience

Pragmatic Play’s live dealer format transforms the solitary video poker experience into something more social and engaging. The production quality matches their other live casino offerings, with professional dealers, high-definition streaming, and thoughtful interface design creating an authentic casino atmosphere.

Rather than computer-generated cards appearing instantly on screen, the dealer manually pulls cards from a physical deck and places them face-up on the table. The deck is shuffled between every hand using an automatic card shuffler, ensuring that previous results have no bearing on future outcomes.

The dealers themselves bring significant value to the experience. Unlike some live casino games where dealers actively chat with players throughout, video poker dealers strike a balance—present and professional without disrupting the contemplative nature of strategy-based play.

Languages

Jacks or Better Draw Poker Live is currently available in English
That said, you can still change the language of the UI in the settings menu. Available options include Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, English, French, German, Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Finnish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese, and more.

Our Verdict

Jacks or Better Draw Poker Live represents a successful translation of classic video poker to the live dealer format. Pragmatic Play has maintained the game’s essential appeal—high RTP, strategic depth, and straightforward rules—while adding the authenticity and engagement that comes with physical card dealing and professional hosts.

The decision to use a full pay 9/6 paytable is particularly commendable. Many modern video poker machines use inferior paytables (8/5 or worse) that significantly reduce player returns.

The live dealer element won’t appeal to everyone. Players who prioritize volume—grinding through hundreds of hands per hour—will find RNG machines more suitable. But for those who value transparency, prefer seeing physical cards, and appreciate a more social atmosphere, the live format offers genuine advantages. The slower pace also benefits players still learning optimal strategy, providing more time to consult charts and think through hold decisions without pressure.

The side bet is a bit of a mixed bag due to its poor RTP, though. We also suspect some players won’t enjoy the one-to-many card dealing setup.

Overall, Pragmatic Play has created a quality live video poker product that respects the game’s core ideas. It’s an excellent choice for video poker enthusiasts who want something different from standard machines, poker players curious about the video poker format, and anyone seeking a high-RTP game with genuine skill elements.

Excellent

Play Jacks or Better Draw Poker Here

Cashed Casino

4.6/5

Casino Palace

4.1/5

Mr Green

4.5/5

How We Rate Live Casino Games

Here at Livecasinos.com, how we rate casino games is based on a strict set of standards that were developed over many years of playing and analyzing live dealer games of all sorts. Here are some of the key factors we consider before giving our recommendation:

Graphics & Stream Quality – Although visuals are not the most important factor, they certainly matter. Good-looking games create a better and more immersive atmosphere. Moreover, the game’s graphics can set it apart from the competition.

UI and User-Friendliness – Well-designed games have intuitive interfaces that are easy to use and access. Our reviews also consider any additional UI elements such as betting options, performance settings, stats and histories, and more.

Payouts & RTP – How much your bets win is crucial for determining a casino game’s quality. A higher RTP is always better for us as players, making RTP one of the most objective ways to rate how good a particular game is.

Gameplay – This refers to how the game actually plays – whether it’s exciting, fun, engaging, and whether we’ve actually enjoyed playing it.

Extra Features – This refers to any added features such as additional bonuses, multipliers, and UI elements.

Platform compatibility – We also rate how well a game performs on mobile devices, apps, etc.

Localization and Native-speaking Tables – Games with a lot of language options are more accessible to international audiences, which is why we consider such features as well.

Jacks or Better Draw Poker: Our Review, How and Where to Play

Play Jacks or Better Draw Poker Live Here

Jacks or Better Draw Poker Review

All supported languages

Key Highlights

How to Play Jacks or Better Draw Poker

Basic Gameplay Flow

Understanding Poker Hand Rankings

The Jackpot Side Bet

Optimal Strategy for Jacks or Better

Simplified Jacks or Better Strategy

Key Strategic Principles

Common Strategy Mistakes

Pros and Cons of Jacks or Better Draw Poker by Pragmatic Play

Payouts

RTP Breakdown

Stats & Probability

New to Live Video Poker?

Interface and Usability

Live Dealer Experience

Languages

Our Verdict

Play Jacks or Better Draw Poker Here

How We Rate Live Casino Games

Responsible Gaming Reminder

WRITE YOUR REVIEW