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In Video Poker Should I Hold an Ace with Two Unsuited High Cards?18 January 2025
Hello Stickman, I very much enjoy your articles. The information you present is interesting and easy to understand. I am emailing you with a question. My wife and I have a small bet going. We both play jacks-or-better video poker. We are fortunate to have full-pay (9-6) games available locally. She says that holding three unsuited high cards is always better than holding just two. Her logic is any of the three high cards could pair up with another to at least get the bet back. I say she is right --- if the three unsuited cards are all face cards. If one of high cards is an ace, only the two face cards should be held. I am pretty sure I am right. What I would like to know is: if I am right, why am I right? Keep the great articles coming, Stickman. Ron G, Mississippi Hi Ron, If the bet was simply – do you hold an unsuited ace with two unsuited high cards like you hold three unsuited face cards (king, queen, and jack), you win the bet. Now let’s look at why this is true. Consider the following hand: King of clubs (Kc), queen of diamonds (Qd), ace of spades (As), 4 of hearts (4h), 7 of spades (7s). The best hold, return, and possible winning hands are: • Kc, Qd – returns 2.4172 credits – out of 16,215 possible hands there are: • 4,914 jacks or better paying 1-for-1 • 711 two pairs paying 2-for-1 • 281 three-of-a-kind paying 3-for-1 • 112 straights paying 4-for-1 • 18 full house paying 9-for-1 • 2 four-of-a-kind paying 25-for-1 The second and third best holds are Qd, As and Kc, As – both returning 2.3383 credits with the following winning hands out of a possible 16,215: • 4,914 jacks or better paying 1-for-1 • 711 two pairs paying 2-for-1 • 281 three-of-a-kind paying 3-for-1 • 48 straights paying 4-for-1 • 18 Full house paying 9-for-1 • 2 four-of-a-kind paying 25-for-1 Holding the ace as one of the two high cards reduces the number of possible straights to 48 from 112. The ace is a weaker high card for straights since it can only produce an inside straight. Continuing down the list of best to worst holds, the fourth best is holding the lone Qd. It returns 2.2840 credits. I won’t give details since this hold is not involved in the question. As it turns out, holding the Kc, Qd, and As is the fifth best hold. It returns 2.2803 credits – even less than the lone Qd. Since the hold contains three cards, there are only 1,081 possible outcomes. They are: • 348 jacks or better paying 1-for-1 • 27 two pairs paying 2-for-1 • 9 three-of-a-kind paying 3-for-1 • 16 straights paying 4-for-1 • Zero full house or four of a kind As with the previous holds that included the unsuited ace, only inside straights are possible reducing the number of possible winning hands. The final point is the killer when holding an ace with two unsuited high cards. Because there are three unsuited cards held, there is no way to get the two highest paying hands when just the two unsuited face cards are held. Hopefully, this will satisfy your wife about why holding an unsuited ace with two unsuited face cards is not the best option. As always, may all your wins be swift and large, and your losses be slow and small. Jerry “Stickman” Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack and video poker and advantage slot machine play. He is a regular contributor to top gaming magazines and 888casino.com. He authored the video poker section of “Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, and Pai Gow Poker!” You can contact Jerry “Stickman” at stickmanjerryg@gmail.com This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net. Recent Articles
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