A high pair beats almost every draw

A pair of jacks, queens, kings or aces already pays. Hold the two cards, throw the other three away, and let the draw try to turn it into two pair, trips, a full house or quads. A high pair is worth about 1.54 coins for every coin bet — a strong hand in this game.

Almost nothing outranks it. Four to a flush loses to it. Four to a straight loses to it. Even three to a royal loses to it. Those three are the draws that tempt people off a high pair, and all three are worth less than the pair sitting right there.

Example: Q♥ Q♠ J♥ T♥ 3♣ looks like a royal in the making. It is not — hold Q♥ Q♠. The three royal hearts return about 1.48 per coin bet; the queens return about 1.54. Against a flush draw it is not even close: K♥ K♠ 4♥ 8♥ 2♥ pays 1.54 for the kings against 1.19 for the four hearts.

Break a high pair for exactly two things: four to a royal, and four to a straight flush. Both are rare, both are obvious when they turn up, and everything else keeps the pair.