Going for the Royal Flush in Video Poker

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If you plan to play a lot of video poker online for real money, going for the royal flush is a must. The royal flush is how you are able to unlock the jackpot pay on a video poker machine. It can pay as high as 800X your base wager, and some video poker machines even have a progressive royal flush jackpot. This is what makes it fun to play compared to online blackjack or Craps with no such options.

If you are going to try and hit the royal flush in video poker there are a few things you need to know. Here is a closer look at the most difficult hand to make in all of video poker.

What is a Royal Flush?

In video poker there is no more valuable hand than the royal flush. This hand consists of A, K, Q, J, 10 all in the same suit. You could sort of think of it as a royal family, and that is how it gets its name.

A royal flush can be dealt on the player's first five cards, but this is very rare. More often it is made by drawing when the chances of making a royal flush are good.

The odds of hitting a royal flush are astronomically high. They are precisely 649,739 to 1 when a regular deck of cards with no wild cards are used. That makes your odds of hitting a royal flush only a little better than winning some versions of the lottery.

The difficulty of making a royal flush is why it works perfectly as a jackpot hand in video poker. No matter what the player does, the odds of hitting a royal flush remain much the same. The only exception is when you only need to draw one or two cards to make the hand.

Ways to Make a Royal Flush in Video Poker

There are many specific ways to make a royal flush in video poker once the cards have been dealt. Prior to this, there are only two ways. You are either dealt the hand with your first five cards, or you have a chance to draw at it.

A royal flush on your first five cards is extremely rare. So is getting four of the five cards that you need for the royal flush. And so it goes on down the line. In reverse, drawing a royal flush becomes harder the fewer cards you have to begin with. For example, there isn't much advantage to trying to draw a royal flush when you only have the ace of spades in your starting hand. You may have a better opportunity if you try to make another hand.

When to Draw for a Royal Flush

Continuing on with the above example, you should only draw at the royal flush when it is advantageous for you to do so. Most video poker players only choose to draw at the royal flush when they have three of the five cards needed to start.

For example, you can have a 10 of hearts, jack of hearts, and an ace of hearts to begin. This means that you just need to draw the king and queen of hearts to make your royal flush. The odds are much better than they would be if you were drawing and trying to hit four of the cards that you need.

The smart player only draws when they have the best chance to win because they are trying to maximize the use of their bankroll. Drawing at a royal flush when you have a very slim chance is not an example of good money management.

There is one exception to this rule. Drawing for a progressive video poker jackpot.

Royal Flush Jackpots

Jackpots in video poker are paid when a player makes the elusive royal flush. There are regular video poker jackpots and there are progressive video poker jackpots that can add up to more than $1 million dollars.

Players who are taking a chance at hitting the progressive royal flush jackpot should consider drawing at it with poorer starting hands. This should only be done with the royal flush jackpot has reached a high amount. In some cases, an online casino will even provide a range in which the progressive jackpot could appear.

In theory, the random number generator that decides which cards appear in video poker means that a royal flush could appear at any time. You will still be maximizing your bankroll if you only play video poker when the progressive jackpots are very high. 

Be sure to also play Pickem Poker when playing video poker at the casinos, a classic!