2nd Chance Royal Video Poker

2^nd Chance Royal video poker enlarges the chances of video poker
players achieving the most coveted hand in the entire game, the royal flush. In
most cases, that hand is extremely rare during gameplay. While it is still rare
in this variation of the game, on certain occasions, you might actually get two
cracks at it.

One of the ways that video poker manufacturers provide variety to gamblers is
by creating concepts that can be added to existing games. In this way, the
player can choose what kind of game and pay table they want to attack. The twist
is laid on top, no matter what the choice.

2^nd Chance Royal video poker works in that kind of fashion. You
can play the game using a simple

Jacks or Better pay structure, which is well-suited for beginning players
and those who like conservative action. Or you can play the game with bonus
poker pay structures, or even with wild cards in the deck. These games are
perfect for those who like some extra spice in the action.

As for the concept of 2^nd Chance Royal video poker, the name gives
it away. Like other video poker games, play mostly consists of two rounds: a
deal and a draw. In most cases, the draw round finishes the hand and you are
scored at that point as a winner or loser.

When playing 2^nd Chance Royal video poker, however, you might get
a second chance at the draw. This occurs when you get four cards out of a royal
flush, which is achieved when a player gets ten through ace of the same suit. If
this occurs, you essentially get a second chance at the rare hand, as you will
draw one more card to see if it completes the flush.

Keep in mind that if you do achieve the royal flush with the second hand, it
will pay only 25% as much as if you would have achieved the hand on the first
deal. In addition, pay tables will usually be depressed from where they might
normally be in the underlying games. That means that you are sacrificing
something for the chance to possibly grab that royal flush on the second deal.

The following article explains the basics of video poker before going into
the second chance twist of the game. We’ll talk about the different types of
games you can play while using the 2^nd Chance Royal video poker twist
and the concepts of payback percentages and strategy so you can get a sense of
whether this game is for you.

Basic 2^nd Chance Royal Video Poker Gameplay

Video poker offers gameplay that is extremely easy to learn, even for
beginners. This is the case for 2^nd Chance Royal video poker as well
because the game essentially plays out like any other version you might see in a
casino, or if you were playing at an online casino site. It doesn’t require
much new knowledge beyond the second chance notion; something we’ll get to in a
bit.

First of all, let’s talk about the basics of video poker. If you are at all
familiar with five-card draw, you’ll have a head start. But even if not, video
poker doesn’t take very long to learn.

Let’s walk you through the process, step-by-step:

1. Establishing Bankroll: The bankroll is
   essentially the money that you put into the machine. This will let you know
   how many credits you have to play. You will determine those credits by
   dividing the amount of money that you inserted by your chosen denomination.
   (Example: $10 in the machine divided by a .25 cent denomination gives you 40
   credits.)
2. Making Bets: Each hand requires you to make a
   wager to play. You can choose between one and five credits, but it is
   generally recommended that you play the full five credits. This is
   especially the case with 2^nd Chance Royal video poker because it
   triggers the extra feature on the game that gives you the second chance at a
   royal flush.
3. Judging Your Deal: The machine will deal out
   five cards, which you will see on our screen. These cards are based on the
   cards that can be found in a standard 52-card deck, just like you would use
   to play at home. Your goal is to make a hand that matches one of the winning
   hands listed on the pay table.
4. Deciding What to Draw: You have one chance to
   improve your initial hand, and that comes with the draw. With the draw, you
   can discard any cards that you don’t think are helping your hand in exchange
   for, hopefully, cards that will help you win. Remember that the
   probabilities of receiving those cards are just the same as if you were
   using a single deck of cards at home.
5. Continuing or Quitting: The machine will score
   your hand and add any winnings. At that point, you can play another hand, or
   you can walk away from the machine with whatever bankroll you have left.
   This process can continue as long as you haven’t lost your bankroll.

Pretty easy, right? The process for playing online is essentially the same.
You would just need to create an account with a gambling website to get the
process started.

The cool thing about video poker, in addition to how easy it is to play, is
how it captures the finest qualities of both table games and slot machines. Like
slot machines, it can be played at your own pace without any pressure. That’s
why you can usually find it in the same section of the casino.

But the probabilities that can be found in video poker are absent from slot
machines. While you can have a rough idea of how often to expect winning hands
to come around in video poker, you have no idea how often winning spins will
show up on a slot machine. Plus, the fact that you can make decisions in video
poker gives you some control of winning or losing, something that isn’t the case
with the slots.

As mentioned above, video poker can be played far away from the hustle and
pressure of the table games section. The sheer variety of video poker variations
far outstrips what you can usually get from other casino games like blackjack or
roulette. Plus, the payback you can get from video poker is often more
profitable than what you can get from either table games or slot machines.

Now that you know how to play video poker and why it is so beneficial that
you do, you are ready to learn about the 2^nd Chance Royal video poker
twist. It’s one that can bring the excitement of the hardest hand in the game
much closer to your reach.

The Unique Twist of 2^nd Chance Royal Video Poker

Video poker players know that the hardest winning hand to get in the entire
game is a royal flush. There are only four possible five-card combinations, out
of the thousands you can possibly get on the deal or the draw, that satisfy the
requirements of the hand. In fact, many video poker players, even those who play
on a semi-regular basis, can go months or even years without ever seeing one.

Of course, because it is so rare, most video poker games prioritize the royal
flush and make it the most lucrative hand in the game. The generally established
odds for a royal flush is 800 to 1 for the hand with five coins played, meaning
a payout of 4,000 coins. In most games, that is at least ten times as much as
you can achieve with any other hand.

In the case of 2^nd Chance Royal video poker, the payout still
stands at 800 to 1 if you manage the hand on the deal or the normal draw. But
there are certain draws that will trigger a special second draw that will allow
you, you guessed it, a second chance at the hand.

Let’s play out a sample hand to see how this might work. Here is the deal:

This hand doesn’t have much going for it at first glance. There is no pair,
no sustained run of consecutive cards, and no more than two cards of the same
suit. However, it does include a connected pair of high cards, which gives it a
little bit of potential.

Knowing that, you decide to hold the king of hearts and the ace of hearts
while discarding the rest. Here is what comes on the next draw:

First off, you have a pair of jacks. That is a winning hand in most games
(except for ones with wild cards, where the requirement for payback is usually
higher). You normally get back even money for this hand, meaning your initial
bet would be returned to you.

Because you are playing 2^nd Chance Royal video poker, you also
have a hand that qualifies for a second draw because you are only missing the
ten of hearts for a royal flush. As a result, you can make a second draw in an
attempt to get that card.

Here is the good news: You have nothing to lose by making this second draw.
You will still get paid the even money for the pair of jacks if your pay table
allows that. And you don’t have to make an extra bet to trigger this feature;
you just had to have bet five coins on your original wager.

If you bet less than five coins, this hand would play out as normal and you
wouldn’t get to have that second draw. You would be paid for the high pair and
that would be it. But those who made the maximum wager would then get their
second draw, with the jack of clubs discarded.

If you don’t get the ten of hearts on the draw, it’s not necessarily a
complete loss. That’s because you would also cash in on those winnings with any
other winning hand achieved on the second draw.

Keep in mind that this extends beyond the royal flush. For example, let’s say
that on the hand above you draw a two of hearts on the second draw. That would
give you a flush.

That means that you will get paid for both the pair on the first draw and the
flush on the second. Let’s say you were playing a pay table where a flush pays
off at 6 to 1. That adds up to:

5 Coins (for pair of jacks) plus 30 coins (for flush) equals 35 coins
total

Obviously, you’ll take anything you can get with that second draw. But,
ideally, you are hoping for the royal flush. You just have to realize that a
royal flush achieved with the special second draw pays off at 200 to 1 instead
of 800 to 1, meaning that your payback for the hand is 1000 coins for the
five-coin bet (which you would need to trigger the feature).

Even though it isn’t as high as the royal flush payout would be if achieved
by normal means, it is still a nice boost. Considering that it doesn’t require
an extra bet on top of five coins, as many video poker games do, it’s a fair
payout. The only drawback comes in terms of the pay tables, which we’ll discuss
now.

Various Pay Tables For 2^nd Chance Royal Video Poker

The pay table is the chart that can be found in all video poker machines
explaining which hands are winners and how much you will be paid for each. It is
crucial that you understand pay tables, since they will tell you about strategy.
They will also help you discover what the expected payout from a video poker
game might be.

What you must understand about a 2^nd Chance Royal video poker
machine is that it will generally give you access to a wide variety of video
poker games. This includes:

• Jacks or better, which features a pay table based on basic five-card
  draw probabilities
• Bonus games, which often reward four of a kind hands at a higher level
  than normal to give players more chances at jackpots
• Wild card games, which include cards designated as a wild that can be
  used as any card in the deck to improve your hand

Among these basic categories are still more specific games (like double
double bonus or deuces wild bonus), which feature their own unique pay tables.
And then, among these games, there are several pay tables available, some of
which are more profitable than others.

It might seem confusing, but let’s take a look at a single pay table so that
we can figure it all out. This is a pay table you can find on a 2^nd
Chance Royal video poker machine for what is known as 8/6 jacks or better:

If you need to know how to read this table, simply match up a winning hand
with the amount of coins played. For example, a straight hand achieved with a
five-coin bet would yield 20 coins. Minus your original five-coin bet, you would
be walking away with 15 coins profit.

This is the best payout you can find for this game on a 2^nd Chance
Royal video poker. But let’s compare this with the highest-paying version of
jacks or better that doesn’t include any second chance at the royal flush:

You might notice that in the second pay table the full house pays off at 9 to
1, higher than the 8 to 1 in the one above it. What you’ll see is that most
games have pay tables that give a little bit more for hands like that if they
don’t have the second chance element added to it.

What should also be noted is that the payback percentage for the 8/6 jacks or
better version of video poker played with the second chance feature pays out
slightly higher than normal 9/6 jacks or better. The 2^nd Chance Royal
video poker comes in at 99.96%, compared to 99.54% for a pay table with the
higher-paying full house without the extra draw possibility.

Speaking of payback percentages, let’s explain that a little bit before
moving on to strategy.

Payback Percentages

We mentioned above that the payback percentage for 8/6 jacks or better on a 2^nd
Chance Royal video poker machine (or played online) comes in at 99.96%.
Imagine that you put $10,000 into the machine playing this pay table. You would
walk away, on average, with $9,996, or a $4 loss.

That doesn’t mean that your results will be that way every time. In fact, you
might not ever have a single session where your payback sits exactly at 99.96%.
Your luck and skill will factor into a small sample size of gameplay.

But, over time, the probabilities involved with the game, along with the pay
tables, will render the results in that manner. The good news is that there is
an excellent percentage for games of chance that can be found in a casino or on
a top gambling website. As a matter of fact, anything over 99% is excellent.

The only problem is that the 2^nd Chance Royal video poker machine
that you find in your local casino might not give you access to 8/6 jacks or
better. It might instead be the 7/5 version of the game, which pays the full
house at only 7 to 1, and the flush at only 5 to 1. That will reduce the payback
to an extent.

The same goes for the bonus and wild card games. Each will come with payouts
that differ depending on what machine you play.

Usually focusing on the
middle-price hands like the full house and flush. By doing that, you’ll be able
to compare one pay table against another.

Casual players might not worry about going into this kind of detail. But, if
you’re serious about playing 2^nd Chance Royal video poker at a
winning level, you really should know the pay tables and the payback percentages
that they create.

Strategy

We mentioned that skill will factor into the payback percentage that you can
expect. Whenever you see a payback percentage listed online for a specific game
of video poker, you have to realize that it is a figure based on perfect play.
That means that the player can achieve that amount if they make the
mathematically correct decision every single hand that they play.

The mathematically correct decision on what to hold and discard can be hard
to figure out for certain hands. On top of that, you might play certain deals
differently depending on the pay table. For example, bonus games require that
you work harder for four of a kind hands, which pay off lucratively in those
games, rather than common hands, which you might work for if you were playing
jacks or better.

How can one person know the right play for every hand in every game available
in 2^nd Chance Royal video poker? Well, they probably can’t. Which is
why you should probably pick a version of the game that suits you.

Those who like to play long, sustained sessions should settle on jacks or
better. If you want more chances at big payouts, the bonus games are probably
for you. If you want the excitement of getting rare hands, wild card games would
be best for you.

Once you have settled on a game that fits your temperament and bankroll, you
then need to focus on the strategy for that game. There are several ways that
you can hone your strategy for those games:

• Free Play: Find a site that allows you to play
  the game of your choice without having to go for real money. That will allow
  you to work out your strategy before actually risking actual money when you
  play.
• Video Poker Trainers: Software that is
  specifically created to teach you video poker can be found online. Once you
  download it, you can play hands as if you were actually in the casino. When
  you make an incorrect choice about what to hold and what to discard, you
  will be notified.
• Strategy Charts: Found online, these charts
  basically contain all the possible seeds of winning hands you might receive
  in a deal. They then rank those hands from most to least beneficial, based
  on mathematical probability. If you memorize an accurate video poker strategy chart for
  the game that you desire to play, you can be assured of perfect play.

Keep in mind that knowing how to play each hand perfectly doesn’t
automatically set you up for immediate winnings with 2^nd Chance Royal
video poker. A player can actually play a hand incorrectly and do better on a
hand than one who played it correctly depending on how the draw plays out. But,
over time, your best chances of making significant winnings playing video poker
is if you have the correct strategy down pat.

Advantages of 2^nd Chance Royal Video Poker

• Access to many different varieties of video poker games
• Play is no different than basic video poker
• You have a much better chance of getting a royal flush with the second
  draw option

Disadvantages of 2^nd Chance Royal Video Poker

• Payouts for some hands will be less than the same hand in games without
  the second draw option
• You must play five credits per game to max out winnings, making the game
  expensive
• Many different types of pay tables can cause confusion

Conclusion

2^nd Chance Royal video poker puts the rarest of all hands into
play much more often than if you were playing normal video poker. It will help
relieve those frustrating occasions when you nearly miss making a royal flush,
and it adds an element to the game that improves payoffs in the long run.