JACKPOTS (Jacks Or Better To Open)

This game has several unique features. First, the pot seldom offers more than 2 to 1 odds in the early stages; in the classic game, there are eight players, each antes a quarter to start the pot with $2, and the limit is $1 before the draw, $2 after the draw (or any ante, first limit and second limit proportionate to those figures). Unless at least three players are in before you and no one has raised, you must throw away all bobtail straights and four flushes. Since you know that the maximum hand is a pair of jacks, you can play no less than kings as second man and need at least aces thereafter. The game is usually played by casual and unknowing players who stick around with any low pair and often with less, but if the game is played seriously there is little action and it is chiefly a game of waiting for the big pot. After all, you will figure to hold a hand as good as aces only once in six or seven deals.