VIDEO POKER CORNER By Lana Hartmann
CHASING ROYALS Odds Of Getting A Royal Flush
T
he Royal Flush is the highest paying video poker hand and the most coveted pinnacle of success for every video poker player. In fact, ask any true aficionado of the game and he or she will recall—in detail—all of their most memorable Royals. Just what are the odds of hitting this enviable win? Not as improbable as most people believe! A Royal Flush will happen (on average) once every 40,000 hands played. When a 52-card deck is utilized, (the standard for most video poker games) there are 2,598,960 different 5-card hands that can be formed where order is not important. Only 4 of these hands can be the Royal Flush (one for each suit). So, a Royal Flush of any suit can happen once in every 649,740 hands.
Royal Flush: Once Every 40,000 Hands. Since cards can be discarded from the original hand and up to 5 new cards can be drawn, statistically, the odds improve for the player. Thus, a Royal happens once in every 40,000 hands played (on average). The words “on average” are important to understand, because 40,000 is the long run average of how many hands it will take to hit the Royal. It should not be interpreted as the exact number. For example, everyone knows that the odds of tossing a “heads” with a two-sided coin is 1 in 2. However, it is unreasonable to believe that exactly 50% of the time you will get a “heads” and 50% of the time you will get a “tails.” Also, since optimal strategy varies from one video poker game to another, this number will vary, but not by much. Since some games’ optimal strategy requires that 2 or 3-card hands for the Royal be held, the odds increase slightly of obtaining the Royal while in other games this is not the case. Have fun chasing royals. We always do! $
22 Arizona Gaming Guide | June 2021 | azgamingguide.com
