Why Two Ways Royal Is Preferred To Jacks Or Better

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If you playing video poker at a Playtech online casino, then you should go for Two Ways Royal rather than the regular Jacks or Better, because it gives a slightly higher average return. This online video poker variant is called Two Ways Royal because there are two ways in which a royal flush hand can be made. The Hi Royal Flush is the usual royal flush hand with suited cards from 10 to A. The Lo Royal Flush hand comprises suited cards from 2 to 6.

The usual condition of playing using optimum strategy applies. The optimum strategy for Jacks or Better has been discussed in several articles. You apply the same strategy for Two Ways Royal. What applies for Hi Royal Flush applies for Lo Royal Flush as well. In Jacks or Better if you hold four cards to a royal flush then you discard the fifth card even if it contributes to a paying combination. In Two Ways Royal if you hold four cards to a Hi Royal Flush or a Lo Royal Flush then you discard the fifth card. The other strategies can be similarly worked out.

The discussion on average returns assumes that five coins are wagered. In Jacks or Better the royal flush pays 800 to 1 for five coins and in Two Ways Royal both royal flush hands pay 800 to 1. Because of the additional royal flush hand in Two Ways Royal the average return to the player increases by 1.8%. By itself this would push the average return to over 100% and make Two Ways Royal an unviable online video poker variant. Therefore some payouts are changed in order to compensate for this. The payout for full house is reduced from 9 to 1 to 6 to 1; the payout for flush is reduced from 6 to 1 to 5 to 1 and the payout for four of a kind is increased from 25 to 1 to 40 to 1. The net effect of these three changes is a reduction in average return by 1.5%. The average return is still higher by 0.3%. To sum it up Jack or Better has an average return of 99.5% and Two Ways Royal has an average return of 99.8%. For casual or low roller online video poker players this may appear insignificant but high rollers thrive on such differences.

Two Ways Royal video poker is live at Playtech online casinos like Omni Casino and Casino Tropez.

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