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EXACT ANSWER · 9/6 JACKS OR BETTER

3 to a straight flush or a low pair?

Keep the low pair. On 9/6 Jacks or Better a pair of threes is worth 0.8237 per coin vs 0.6355 for the 6♥ 7♥ 8♥ straight-flush draw.

The exact numbers — 6♥ 7♥ 8♥ 3♣ 3♦

6♥ 7♥ 8♥ 3♣ 3♦ solved on 9/6 Jacks or Better — the best hold highlighted with its exact EV
6♥ 7♥ 8♥ 3♣ 3♦ on 9/6 Jacks or Better: the winning hold, solved exactly.
HoldEV per coinvs best
Low pair (3♣ 3♦)0.8237best
Pair + one (6♥ 3♣ 3♦)0.6753−0.1484
3 to a straight flush (6♥ 7♥ 8♥)0.6355−0.1882

EVs are exact — every possible draw enumerated, not simulated — at max bet on 9/6 Jacks or Better. Check it yourself: the analyzer runs the same solver in your browser.

See all 32 holds of this hand ranked

Why

A three-card straight flush is the best-looking draw that isn't a royal — two ways to a 50-coin hand, plus flush and straight backup — and it still loses to the smallest pair. Two exact cards have to arrive for the 50-coin straight flush; the consolation prizes are a 6-coin flush and a 4-coin straight, and nothing here can pair into a paying high card. The low pair's ordinary trips-and-two-pair equity outruns all of that. Three-card straight-flush draws never outrank a made pair on this paytable — four-card ones do, and comfortably: line #4 sits above two pair.

Chart line #9 of 18 (low pair) sits above both straight-flush-draw lines: #11 (3 to a straight flush + high card) and #13 (3 to a straight flush, no high card). See the full solver-optimized strategy chart, or drill hands with exact-EV feedback until plays like this are automatic.

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