Wizard of Odds simple strategy
Sixteen lines, no inside straights, no straight-flush types. The one most beginners are pointed at, and the one vpFREE2 links to. Played through every one of the 2,598,960 possible deals on a full-pay 9/6 machine, this chart returns exactly 99.4590% against 99.5439% for perfect play — a gap of 0.0849 percentage points, or $0.64 an hour at quarters and $2.55 an hour at dollars.
Source
Jacks or Better Simple Strategy (9/6), Michael Shackleford, Wizard of Odds. Transcribed 2026-09-19. The source quotes 99.46% for this chart; exhaustive enumeration of the list as published gives 99.4590%.
- Reproduced with permission at easy.vegas as 'The Wizard's Simple Strategy', with full house moved from row 3 to row 1 -- a difference that cannot change any play.
- vpFREE2 publishes no chart of its own and links to this one.
The chart
Read it top down and hold the first line your hand matches. A high card means a jack, queen, king or ace.
| # | Hold |
|---|---|
| 1 | Four of a kind, straight flush, royal flush |
| 2 | 4 to a royal flush |
| 3 | Three of a kind, straight, flush, full house |
| 4 | 4 to a straight flush |
| 5 | Two pair |
| 6 | High pair |
| 7 | 3 to a royal flush |
| 8 | 4 to a flush |
| 9 | Low pair |
| 10 | 4 to an outside straight |
| 11 | 2 suited high cards |
| 12 | 3 to a straight flush |
| 13 | 2 unsuited high cards (if more than 2 then pick the lowest 2) |
| 14 | Suited 10/J, 10/Q, or 10/K |
| 15 | One high card |
| 16 | Discard everything |
Where it differs from perfect play
58,944 deals are played differently from the exact solution — 2.27% of hands, in 12 kinds. They are listed costliest first, with the share of the whole 0.0849-point gap each one carries and the running total. The example is the single worst hand in that class.
| Chart holds | Perfect play holds | Row that fires | Deals | Cost | Share | Running |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 unsuited high cards | 4 to an inside straight | 2 unsuited high cards (if more than 2 then pick the lowest 2) | 11,976 | 0.02495 pp | 29.4% | 29.4% |
| 3 to a straight flush | 1 high card | 3 to a straight flush | 12,432 | 0.02025 pp | 23.9% | 53.3% |
| 2 suited high cards | 3 to a straight flush | 2 suited high cards | 6,456 | 0.01741 pp | 20.5% | 73.8% |
| 2 unsuited high cards | 3 unsuited high cards | 2 unsuited high cards (if more than 2 then pick the lowest 2) | 8,040 | 0.00653 pp | 7.7% | 81.5% |
| 2 unsuited high cards | 2 to a royal flush | 2 unsuited high cards (if more than 2 then pick the lowest 2) | 9,972 | 0.00541 pp | 6.4% | 87.8% |
| 2 suited high cards | 4 to an inside straight | 2 suited high cards | 4,860 | 0.00468 pp | 5.5% | 93.3% |
| 3 to a straight flush | 2 unsuited high cards | 3 to a straight flush | 2,136 | 0.00403 pp | 4.7% | 98.1% |
| 3 to a straight flush | 2 to a royal flush | 3 to a straight flush | 420 | 0.00086 pp | 1.0% | 99.1% |
| low pair | 4 to an outside straight | Low pair | 252 | 0.00047 pp | 0.6% | 99.7% |
| 3 to a royal flush | 4 to a flush | 3 to a royal flush | 864 | 0.00017 pp | 0.2% | 99.9% |
| 2 to a royal flush | 1 high card | Suited 10/J, 10/Q, or 10/K | 1,440 | 0.00009 pp | 0.1% | 100.0% |
| 3 to a straight flush | 4 to an inside straight | 3 to a straight flush | 96 | 0.00003 pp | 0.0% | 100.0% |
The worst hand in each class
| Dealt | Chart holds | Worth | Perfect play holds | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
9♠ J♠ Q♣ K♦ A♥ | J♠ Q♣ | 0.4788 | J♠ Q♣ K♦ A♥ | 0.5957 |
2♦ 3♦ 4♣ 6♦ J♥ | 2♦ 3♦ 6♦ | 0.4255 | J♥ | 0.4899 |
2♣ 9♦ J♦ Q♦ A♥ | J♦ Q♦ | 0.5845 | 9♦ J♦ Q♦ | 0.7364 |
2♠ 8♠ J♣ Q♦ K♥ | J♣ Q♦ | 0.4913 | J♣ Q♦ K♥ | 0.5153 |
2♠ 3♣ T♦ J♦ A♥ | J♦ A♥ | 0.4743 | T♦ J♦ | 0.5047 |
2♥ J♥ Q♣ K♦ A♥ | J♥ A♥ | 0.5512 | J♥ Q♣ K♦ A♥ | 0.5957 |
2♣ 3♣ 6♣ J♦ Q♥ | 2♣ 3♣ 6♣ | 0.4376 | J♦ Q♥ | 0.5098 |
2♦ 3♦ 6♦ T♥ J♥ | 2♦ 3♦ 6♦ | 0.4403 | T♥ J♥ | 0.5153 |
T♣ T♠ J♣ Q♦ K♥ | T♣ T♠ | 0.8237 | T♣ J♣ Q♦ K♥ | 0.8723 |
2♥ T♥ J♥ Q♦ A♥ | T♥ J♥ A♥ | 1.2692 | 2♥ T♥ J♥ A♥ | 1.2766 |
2♥ 3♣ 9♦ T♥ K♥ | T♥ K♥ | 0.4582 | K♥ | 0.4598 |
8♦ 9♦ J♣ Q♦ K♥ | 8♦ 9♦ Q♦ | 0.5227 | 9♦ J♣ Q♦ K♥ | 0.5319 |
"Worth" is the exact expected value of that hold in coins per coin bet, over all the ways the draw can come out of the remaining 47 cards. You can check any of them in the hand analyzer.
On the other standard machines
| Machine | This chart | Perfect play | Gap | Cost/hour, quarters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/6 (800-50-25-9-6-4-3-2-1) | 99.4590% | 99.5439% | 0.0849 pp | $0.64 |
| 9/5 (800-50-25-9-5-4-3-2-1) | 98.3504% | 98.4498% | 0.0995 pp | $0.75 |
| 8/6 (800-50-25-8-6-4-3-2-1) | 98.3073% | 98.3927% | 0.0854 pp | $0.64 |
| 8/5 (800-50-25-8-5-4-3-2-1) | 97.1986% | 97.2984% | 0.0998 pp | $0.75 |
| 7/5 (800-50-25-7-5-4-3-2-1) | 96.0469% | 96.1472% | 0.1004 pp | $0.75 |
| 6/5 (800-50-25-6-5-4-3-2-1) | 94.8951% | 94.9961% | 0.1010 pp | $0.76 |
The chart was written for 9/6 and is applied unchanged to the rest, which is what a player does. Cost per hour assumes 600 hands an hour at five quarters a hand.