Video poker quiz: Low pair or something else

15 March 2025

By Jerry Stickman

Today’s article is a quiz on proper video poker strategy. The game is full-pay (9/6) jacks or better. The bet is the maximum five credits so that the royal flush pays 800-for-1 rather than 250-for-1.

See if you can play the two hands properly.

Today’s first hand contains:

- Jack of clubs (Jc)
- Queen of diamonds (Qd)
- 7 of clubs (7c)
- King of clubs (Kc)
- 7 of spades (7s)

The obvious holds for the hand (Jc, Qd, 7c, Kc, 7s) are:

- three high cards (Jc, Qd, Kc)
- two cards of a royal flush (Jc, Kc)
- three cards of a flush (Jc, 7c, Kc)
- a low pair (7c, 7s)

Which cards would you hold?

Here are the returns for some of the top holds for the hand (Jc, Qd, 7c, Kc, 7s):

- Three high cards (Jc, Qd, Kc) – return 2.5763 credits for five credits played on average.
- Two cards of a royal flush (Jc, Kc) – return 2.8791 credits for five credits played on average.
- Three cards of a flush (Jc, 7c, Kc) – return 2.6642 credits on average.
- The low pair (7c, 7s) – returns 4.1184 credits on average.

For this hand, the three high cards, the two cards of a royal flush, and three cards of a flush all return roughly half of the initial bet.

None of these holds comes close to the return from the low pair. Low pairs are a decent initial hand as the return of 4.1184 credits indicates. On average this hold returns a bit over 80 percent of the initial bet – not bad for a seemingly insignificant hold.

In fact, there are three other holds which include the low pair that return more than the other holds mentioned. They are:

- (Jc, 7c, 7s)
- (Qd, 7c, 7s) and
- (7c, Kc, 7s)

Each of these holds returns 3.3765 credits on average – a significant improvement over the holds that do not include the low pair.

Holding the low pair of 7’s is the proper hold for this hand. Is this the hold you chose?

Let’s try another hand that contains a low pair.

The second hand contains:

- Jack of diamonds (Jd)
- Queen of hearts (Qh)
- 10 of clubs (Tc)
- King of spades (Ks)
- 10 of diamonds (Td)

The obvious holds for the hand (Jd, Qh, Tc, Ks, Td) are:

- three high cards (Jd, Qh, Ks)
- two cards of a royal flush (Jd, Td)
- four cards of an open straight with three high cards (Jd, Qh, Tc, Ks) or (Jd, Qh, Ks, Td)
- a low pair (Tc, Td)

Which cards would you hold? Will this hand have a different best hold?

Here are the returns for some of the top holds for the hand (Jd, Qh, Tc, Ks, Td):

- Three high cards (Jd, Qh, Ks) – return 2.2803 credits for five credits played on average.
- Two cards of a royal flush (Jd, Td) – return 2.2599 credits for five credits played on average.
- Four cards of an open straight with three high cards (Jd, Qh, Tc, Ks) or (Jd, Qh, Ks, Td) – return 4.3617 credits on average.
- The low pair (Tc, Td) – returns 4.1184 credits on average.

For this hand, the low pair has the same decent return as the first hand, however, either hold with four cards of an open straight with three high cards returns more – about a quarter of a credit more in fact.

As with the first hand, holds that include one high card along with the low pair all perform better than either of the first two holds. They each return 3.3765 credits – the same as in the first example.

Most video poker players know that the suited jack-10 is not a strong hand. In this hand, it performs worse than any hold not containing the low pair and also containing two high cards. These returns are:

- (Jd, Qh) – 2.3814 credits
- (Qh, Ks) or (Jd, Ks) – 2.3420 credits

The suited jack-10 returns only 2.2599 – the least of any of the holds shown here.

Holding the four cards of an open straight with three high cards is the proper hold for this hand. Is this the hold you chose?

How did you do? Did you play both of these hands correctly?

As always, may all your wins be swift and large, and your losses be slow and tiny.

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