Dear
Mark,
Please settle a dispute I have with my wife. In video
poker, which start-up hand is more valuable, one with
an ace or one with a jack? My wife believes neither
as you get your money back with either once paired
up. I believe the jack is because you can make more
paying hands with it. Also, what about two aces versus
two jacks as a starter hand? Steve S.
In
Jacks-or-better video poker, Steve, a lone Jack is worth
more than an Ace. True, paired up after the draw they
are hands of equal value, but thinking of straights
and straight flushes, a Jack is a better starter card
than an Ace. The Jack can be part of a 7-8-9-10-J; or
8-9-10-J-Q; or a 9-10-J-Q-K, straight flush, whereas,
other than sharing a mutual royal flush, the only other
straight flush an Ace can make is an Ace-2-3-4-5.
The same reasoning
applies for straights. By and large, two Jacks as
starters are worth exactly the same as two Aces
in Jacks-or-better video poker. Both hands return
your money if you draw no supporting cards.
The same value holds
true for three Jacks versus Three aces, and a four-of-a-kind
for either hand. However, video poker also offers
various "Bonus" games where four Aces
pay quite a bit more than four Jacks do. On these
bonus games, a pair of Aces would definitely be
worth more than two Jacks.
