Joker Poker Strategy Charts
What’s the difference between playing Joker Poker with perfect strategy and playing Joker Poker with your “gut”? $93 plus a 4 course steak dinner.
Allow me to explain…
The Video Poker Bet
I have a friend who is a professional poker player. Let’s call him “Jimmy”. I’m not exactly sure what qualifies someone as a “professional” poker player, but let’ just say he’s good enough to travel the world playing in poker tournaments for a living.
Joker Poker Strategy Chart Natural Royal Flush or Straight Flush – keep all 5! 4 to a Natural Royal Flush – keep these 4 and discard the other card 4 of a kind, full house or flush – keep these hands (discard the other card with 4 of a kind) 4 to a straight flush – discard the other card 3 of a kind. Spinettis Basic Strategy Card for Video Poker. 3.6 out of 5 stars 6 ratings. Price: $6.86 & FREE Shipping. Make sure this fits by entering.
Last week I was telling Jimmy about the Video Poker strategy cards that I had been making. I told him how I had figured out a video poker strategy for Joker Poker that allowed me to virtually eliminate the casino’s advantage altogether.
Since Jimmy had finished his poker playing for the day, winning several thousand dollars, and had begun celebrating with several glasses of wine, Jimmy felt a little cocky. He clearly felt my video poker strategy could never stack up to his poker skills, even if video poker is a completely different game from poker altogether.
He was so confident, in fact, that he bet me a steak dinner that he could win more money in an hour playing Joker Poker than I could using my strategy.
The competition was on.
We each logged in to our accounts at Silver Oak Casino and started playing 25 cent Joker Poker. I printed out a copy of my Joker Poker strategy card and Jimmy started playing with his gut.
The Results
After an hour of play, I was up $32 and poor old Jimmy was down $59. Big win for video poker players! While not exactly a scientific test, it’s a good indication that using this Joker Poker cheat sheet will improve your chances of winning at the online video poker machines.
Here is the exact same video poker card I used to beat Jimmy by $93 and win a steak dinner:
Once you have the Joker Poker cheat sheet in hand, download a free video poker game here and give it a shot:
Have you tried this Joker Poker strategy card for yourself? How did it work for you? Win any steak dinners? Let me know in the comment section below!
Jokers Wild Poker
If you enjoyed this video poker strategy card, you may also enjoy the Deuces Wild Video Poker Strategy Card, how to double your video poker winnings, the video poker strategy exception, the video poker glossary, or video poker risk of ruin.
Jeff White
Joker Poker Strategy Charts Tactics
Jeff has been an active gambler from the age of 18 when he won a small local poker tournament in San Jose, CA. He moved on to playing other casino games shortly thereafter, with a great interest in the statistics and mathematics involved. He has studied the historical gambling systems of nearly every popular casino game played today, and has written strategy books for several of them including blackjack, slot machines, craps, and roulette. Jeff has been a daily contributor to the Silver Oak Casino blog since the beginning of 2009.
Latest posts by Jeff White (see all)
Joker Poker is a variety of video poker, where a single Joker is introduced into the game, this card acting as a wild card. Due to the introduction of the joker, the strategy for this game will be different to the ones employed at other video poker games.
In this guide, I start with an explanation of Joker poker and explain why you should always play with 5 coins. I then move onto a comprehensive strategy guide for the game – with two tables, based on whether or not you have a Joker in your original 5 cards.
How to Play Joker Poker
Here is an example hand when playing Joker Poker. You’ll notice there is a Joker in the hand, meaning that this card will now become the best possible it can – which in this case is a Queen, improving the hand to 3 of a kind.
You’ll notice from the pay table below that there are five columns, each representing the number of coins you’ll be playing for. As with all forms of video poker, you should always play to the maximum amount of 5 coins. This is due to the increased amount of coins you’ll receive when hitting a Royal Flush – 5,000 with 5 coins, but just 3,000 if betting with 4 coins. In this version of the game, you’ll also find the ‘5 of a kind’ payout and both a ‘Natural Royal Flush’ and a ‘Joker Royal Flush’.
Joker Poker Strategy Chart
No Joker
- Natural Royal Flush or Straight Flush – keep all 5!
- 4 to a Natural Royal Flush – keep these 4 and discard the other card
- 4 of a kind, full house or flush – keep these hands (discard the other card with 4 of a kind)
- 4 to a straight flush – discard the other card
- 3 of a kind or a straight – discard the other two cards with 3 of a kind, keep all 5 with the straight
- 3 to a Royal Flush with K or Q high – discard the other two cards
- Two pairs – discard the other card
- 3 to a Royal Flush with A high – discard the other two cards
- AA or KK – discard the other 3 cards
- 4 to a flush – discard the other card
- 3 to a straight flush (no gap – for example, 7, 8 and 9) – discard the other two cards
- Low Pair (QQ or below) – discard the other three cards
- TJQK (unsuited) – discard the other card
- 3 to a straight flush with either one gap (for example 4, 6 and 7) or 2 gaps with K or A (for example 9, Q and K) – discard the other two cards
- Suited AK – discard the other 3 cards
- Open ended straight – discard the other card
- 3 to a straight flush with 2 gaps (for example 2, 4 and 6)
- Suited TK, JK or QK – discard the other three cards
- Suited TA, JA, QA – discard the other three cards
- Single Ace or King – discard the other four cards
- Suited TJ, JQ or TQ – discard the other three cards
- Discard all five cards
With the Joker
- Any hand which is 4 of a kind or better (discard the other card if exactly 4 of a kind)
- 4 to a wild Royal with King high – discard the other card
- Full House – keep all 5 cards
- 4 to a Wild Royal with King high – discard the other card
- 4 to a straight flush with no gap 3,4,5,6 or higher – discard the other card
- Made Flush – keep all 5 cards
- 4 to a straight flush (all other straight flush draws not included in 4) – discard the other card
- 3 of a kind or straight – keep all five with the straight, discard the other two with three of a kind
- 4 to a Flush with at least an Ace or King – Discard the other card
- 3 to a straight/royal flush with either no gaps or an Ace or King – discard the other two cards
- 3 to a straight flush with 1 gap (for example 4,6 and a Joker)
- Joker with TJK, TQK or JQK (not suited) – discard the other card
- 3 to a straight flush with 2 gaps (for example 4, 7 and a Joker) – discard the other three cards
- Open ended straight draw – discard the other card
- Four to a flush with no Ace or King – discard the other card
- Joker with a 6, 7 or an 8 – discard the other three
- Joker with 10, 5 or 9 – discard the other three
- Joker with a Jack – discard the other three
- Joker only – discard all other 4 cards
Using the Strategy Charts
To use the above charts, you’ll firstly look at your hand – if you have a joker, you’ll use the ‘with the joker’ chart, if you don’t, you’ll use the ‘no joker’ chart. You’ll then look up your hand on the chart to see the best course of action. On occasions, your hand will apply to two or more sections of the chart – in this case you’ll choose the option which is higher on the list.
Here is an example hand:
In the hand above we have a joker, so you’ll head to the ‘with the joker’ chart. This hand hits the chart in many ways, however there are two obvious hands that stand out. Firstly, you have ‘3 to a straight/royal flush with either no gaps or an Ace or King’ which is number 10 on the chart. Secondly you have a made flush which is number 6 on the chart. As the second option is higher up the chart, you should stick with the Flush by holding all five cards, and forego the possibility of the Royal Flush.
How To Play Joker Poker
I recommend the top-rated Drake Casino for both US and International readers seeking a great collection of Video Poker titles (including multiple Joker Poker choices). You'll find BetSoft and AE games there, and promotions which will keep your bankroll topped up almost every session. Check out the Video Poker selection from the right hand side menu over at www.drakecasino.eu now!
More Video Poker Guides:
Video Poker Guide (history / basic rules etc)