Jacks or Better Poker is a variation of the classic video poker games that continue to prove immensely popular with casino players. As the name would suggest, Jacks or Better poker slightly eschews the traditional formula of winning poker hands by requiring that a winning pair be at least jacks or better. Otherwise, winning hands are the same as traditional poker. You can adjust the coin value from $0.05 to $10.00, and further change your bet level from between 1 to 5 times.

Upon selecting your bet amount you'll be dealt 5 cards. At this point you're able to hold any cards you would like to retain in your hand (the game will automatically do this when a winning hand is already achieved though you can override this if you wish), at which point the cards you don't hold are discarded and you're dealt new cards to replace them. This process only happens once, after which the hand is finalized. Upon winning a hand, you're allowed to enter gamble mode if you wish, where you can guess the color or suit of the next card ofr double or quadruple your winning hand amount. With as many as 10 of the deck's 52 cards having already been played, your odds of being successful in this mode are actually better than 50% if you've been paying attention, making it a potentially lucrative proposition that should not be ignored.

While single-hand play is enjoyable, the real fun comes in the form of playing multi-hand games, including as many as 100 hands at once. You still only play one hand, but this hand now counts for every additional hand you're playing, meaning any cards you hold will be held in those other hands as well. This adds a whole new layer of strategy and fun to the game, and makes chasing straights and flushes a much more valid proposition. It also makes it extremely exciting when you flop a big hand that will now count for all 100 hands, with the potential for some of those to be even bigger and reap huge rewards.

Graphically the game is simple in its presentation and doesn't try to dress up the action at all, which is fine. It presents the payouts on the upper-left and the cards in the middle of the screen, with various game and betting options along the bottom.

Final Verdict

Jacks or Better Poker is great fun for poker afficionados, especially in multi-hand mode. With an RTP of 99.6%, skilled players have a very realistic chance of coming out ahead consistently. The game is available for mobile devices through flash play, and makes for a great diversion no matter where you are in the world.