Two Ways Royal Video Poker Instructive Hands Explained

Two Ways Royal is a type of video poker that you can find at a lot of different online casinos, especially those operated with the Playtech software, and it gives you an extra payout at the top of the paytable called a lo royal. A lo royal is a six-high straight flush, so getting a two, three, four, five and six of the same suit effectively counts as a royal flush and gives you the same large 800x payout as a royal flush would. This affects strategy in some major ways.

Take for instance the hand TdTh5h3h2h. This is the type of hand that a lot of players will frequently misplay. Many people think they should keep the pair of tens, and that will give you an average payout of 0.835x. Others will take the four-card flush draw with its 0.957x payout rate, and that’s obviously a better play. However, the best paying combination of cards to play is actually the three-card draw to the royal with the 5h3h2h combination. This is very anti-intuitive, but it has a larger payout of 1.152x.

Another fun hand to look at is 2s3s5s6sAs. You have a made ace-high flush, so what more could you want other than the 5x payout that you’re guaranteed for standing pat? As it turns out, standing pat is a massive mistake here that will cost you a ton of money. Your average payout for discarding the As is 18.021x, more than three times the payout of standing pat. Four cards to a lo royal flush draw is an amazing hand, and it’s so strong that is completely outclasses a made flush.

Our final instructive hand is AcQcTc2c2h. This shows the same sort of principle as we’ve seen before. Keeping the low pair has a 0.835x payout like we’ve seen with TT in the first hand. Going for the flush draw by discarding the 2h has a 1.085x payout rate, and note that’s larger than the four-card flush draw from earlier because this one has high cards that can make high pairs as well. Finally, the royal flush draw wins out though, and it gives you a 1.254x average win. Again, notice that the presence of high cards adds a significant amount of value to the draw. If you study these hands and how the lo royal flush comes into play, you’ll make very strong plays in this game.