This strategy chart is for the full-pay All American (8/8/8) pay table, which returns 100.72% with perfect play. All American strategy is fundamentally different from Jacks or Better — using JoB strategy here costs you about 1.5%.
Priority List
Find the highest match for your hand and hold those cards. Discard everything else.
- Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind — hold the made hand
- Four to a Royal Flush — break a Straight or Flush to draw one
- Full House, Flush, Straight — hold the made hand
- Three of a Kind
- Four to a Straight Flush
- Two Pair — pays only 1-for-1, but hold both pairs for the Full House draw
- High Pair (Jacks through Aces)
- Four to a Flush — hold over a low pair
- Three to a Royal Flush
- Four to an open-ended Straight — hold over a low pair
- Low Pair (2s through 10s)
- Three to a Straight Flush (no gaps) — e.g., 7♠ 8♠ 9♠
- Four to an inside Straight (with 3+ high cards)
- Two to a Royal Flush (suited) — e.g., K♠ Q♠
- Three to a Straight Flush (one gap) — e.g., 6♥ 8♥ 9♥
- Two unsuited high cards
- One high card (J, Q, K, or A)
- Discard all five
Key Differences from JoB
Break low pairs for Flush and Straight draws. In JoB, a low pair almost always beats a four-card draw. In All American, the 8-for-1 payout for Straights and Flushes changes this. Ranks 8 and 10 show this — four to a Flush or open-ended Straight outranks a low pair.
Straight Flush draws rank extremely high. At 200-for-1 (4x the JoB payout), three-card Straight Flush draws appear at ranks 12 and 15. In JoB, these wouldn't crack the top 15.
Four to a Royal beats a made Straight or Flush. Always break a completed Straight or Flush for four to a Royal. The 800-for-1 payout makes this mathematically clear.
Common Situations
Dealt: 4♣ 5♣ 6♣ 7♣ J♥
Hold 4-5-6-7 of clubs. You have four to both a Straight Flush and a Flush, plus an open-ended Straight. Discard the Jack. (In JoB, you might consider holding the Jack as a high card — never in All American.)
Dealt: 8♠ 8♦ 5♥ 6♥ 7♥
Hold 5♥-6♥-7♥ (three to a Straight Flush). Break the pair of 8s. The Straight Flush draw with Straight and Flush fallbacks at 8-for-1 beats a low pair.
Dealt: K♥ Q♥ J♠ 10♣ 3♦
Hold K-Q-J-10 (four to an open-ended Straight). The 8-for-1 Straight payout makes this draw worth more than holding K♥-Q♥ (two to a Royal).
Pay Table Variants
This chart is optimized for the 8/8/8 full-pay version. For 8/8/6 (Straight reduced to 6), the strategy shifts slightly — Straight draws become less valuable relative to Flush draws, moving closer to JoB priorities. The 6/6/6 version at 96.55% is not worth playing.
Always verify your pay table before using this chart. Check that Full House, Flush, and Straight all pay 8-for-1.