Color Match Royals Video Poker

Color Match Royals video poker presents an interesting variation on your
typical video poker game. In most video poker games, just as in normal five-card
draw poker, any hand with the word “Flush” involved requires you to have all
five cards within the same suit, but this game changes it up by allowing you the
chance to get those hands having just five cards of the same color.

Video poker games generally fall into three categories. The most basic is

Jacks or Better, which ranks hands and doles out winnings based on the
frequency in which they occur. Bonus poker games use a more aggressive pay
table, boosting payouts to rare hands, such as four of a kind, while lowering
the payoffs of common hands to compensate.

Finally, there are the variations which add a new element that changes up
gameplay just a bit. These games can use common pay tables from Jacks or Better,
or Bonus poker, as part of their action while adding a twist. Color Match Royals
video poker falls into this latter category.

In this case, the twist is that the pay tables add a few different hands with
which you can win. These hands are ones in which all five cards consist of the
same color. In other words, you have five red cards (Hearts and Diamonds) or
five black cards (Spades and Clubs).

This brings new hands to the fore like the Colored Royal Flush, Colored
Straight Flush, and Colored Flush, all of which pay out well. In addition, none
of the payouts for other hands are reduced from what they commonly would be on
the corresponding pay table, whether it is a Jacks or Better or Bonus game.

Of course, no video poker game could afford to make those kinds of
concessions without giving a serious edge to the player. Since no casino would
allow that to happen, Color Match Royals video poker requires you to put up a
ten-coin bet to activate the extra payouts. Considering the game can only be
played in multiple play mode, it can be a very costly endeavor.

The following article will give you the scoop on everything you need to know
to play Color Match Royals video poker. We’ll explain basic video poker play,
multiple plays, and how the Color Flushes change up the game. We’ll also take a
look at strategy as well as detail the advantages and disadvantages of the game.

Learning Basic Video Poker

People who play video poker regularly will likely rave to you about how their
game is the best in the casino (or, if they play online, on the gambling
website). After all, it combines the best elements of slot machines and video
poker, and, in many ways, exceeds both of those games.

You can play a game like Color Match Royals video poker away from the
craziness of the table games section of the casino. That “no pressure” factor
makes it like slot machines, except slot machines don’t allow for strategy, nor
do they yield any probabilities about how often you might be able to achieve
certain winning spins during gameplay.

Knowing those probabilities, as well as the pay tables which show you how
much each winning hand will get you, means that video poker removes a lot of the
guesswork from the gambling equation. You can pick a machine and, with a little
mathematics or research, determine what its expected payback will be. In most
cases, that payback is very favorable, certainly in comparison to slot machines
and often in comparison to table games as well.

So how do you play? Well, as mentioned above, video poker bears a striking
resemblance to Five-Card Draw in how you try to make a winning combination of
cards from a deal followed by draws. Video poker achieves this through a
simulated 52-card deck, but the probabilities are the same as if you were playing at home.

Let’s walk you through what it would take to walk into a casino (or go
online) and play a session of video poker:

• Set up Your Bankroll: You will insert a certain amount
  of money into the machine to start (if playing online, you must set up an
  account). The denomination that you choose and how much money you put in
  will determine your bankroll. Simply divide the amount you put in by the
  denomination to determine how many credits, or coins, you will have to begin
  playing.
• Decide on Your Wager: In most video poker games, you
  will be asked to bet between one and five coins per hand. Because of the
  special features of Color Match Royals video poker and the multiple play
  mode of the game, you might, and should, actually be betting much more of
  that to play each series of hands. However, even though the max bet is
  recommended, you can play with as little as one coin per hand as your bet.
• Check out Your Deal: You will receive five cards from a
  simulated deck of 52. You will then see if your deal has any winning hands
  in it, or at least the seeds of possible winning hands you might receive in
  the draw round. Winning hands will be listed on the pay table, but a basic
  knowledge of what these hands are will help you out if you are a video poker
  beginner.
• Decide on the Draw: In order to make the best possible
  hand that you can, you will have one opportunity to discard one, up through
  all, of the cards in your hand. These cards will be replaced with cards from
  the same deck from which you were dealt. At that point, your hand is
  complete and the computer inside the machine will determine if any winnings
  are to be credited to your account. (The amount of your bet will be deducted
  the moment you press on the Deal button.)
• Continue Playing or Cash Out: As long as there is money
  still left in your bankroll, you can play again by repeating steps two
  through four. If you run out of money, however, you’ll need to replenish
  your account to continue. You can decide to stop playing and cash out your
  remaining balance at any point.

Multiple Play Video Poker

We mentioned above that Color Match Royals video poker is a game that is only
available in casinos in multiple play mode. That means you’ll have the choice of
playing three, five, or ten hands at a time. You have to make a bet on each hand
to play, and all of the hands will be governed by a single deal.

Here is an example of how that might work. You make your bets and the machine
deals you the following five cards:

• Three of Clubs, Three of Hearts, Four of Spades, Five of Diamonds,
  Six of Hearts

When deciding on what to keep and what to discard, you have two obvious
possibilities. On the one hand, you can discard one of the threes. This would
give you four cards toward a Straight, which would be completed with a two or a
seven.

On the other hand, you could keep both of the threes and discard everything
else. Doing this would open up the possibilities of a two pair, three of a kind,
a full house, or even a four of a kind.

This is an example of what we talked about above concerning how your
strategic decisions will have an impact on the game. In this case, let’s assume
that you’ve played long enough to know that the pair of threes is the right
cards to hold based on potential payouts and probabilities.

The machine will then draw from three different decks of 47, each with the
five cards you were dealt eliminated, to complete your three hands. For example,
you might receive with your three hands:

• Three of Clubs, Three of Hearts, Three of Diamonds, Five of Spades,
  Nine of Clubs
• Three of Clubs, Three of Hearts, Four of Clubs, Four of Diamonds,
  Four of Hearts
• Three of Clubs, Three of Hearts, Ten of Spades, Queen of Clubs, Ace
  of Hearts

As you can see, the first handmade out three of a kind, while the second came
up with a full house. The third hand did not improve and wouldn’t qualify as a
winner. Your hands would be scored and the process would begin again.

Multiple play mode is not cheap, especially, as you are about to see, since
we are going to recommend that you play ten coins per hand to really make the
most out of Color Match Royals video poker. If you get a great opening deal,
it’s a way to make excellent winnings in a hurry. A series of bad opening deals,
however, can deplete your winnings just as quickly.

Color Match Royals Video Poker Gameplay

Color Match Royals video poker works in pretty much the same way as regular
multiple play video poker, with one major difference which to add to your
considerations. By playing ten coins per hand, you will activate an entirely new
pay table. This new pay table pays some traditional hands more aggressively and
it also includes the new “Color Match” hands which give you more ways to win.

Playing ten coins per hand is a pricey endeavor. That means that you will be
betting 30 coins in triple play, 50 coins in five play, and 100 coins in a ten
play game. Depending on the denomination in question, that could be an extremely
expensive proposition.

But think of the possibilities of winning hands that you might make that
wouldn’t be available in other games. In particular, these hands would be
flushes of all the same color cards.

How many times have you played regular video poker, seen five red or five
black cards come up on the screen, and been disappointed that it didn’t do
anything for your winnings? Color Match Royals video poker rectifies this
situation. The following are the hands that come into play along with their
regular video poker counterpart, along with examples:

It doesn’t take a math major to see that it’s easier to collect the colored
flushes rather than the traditional ones. The pay tables reflect this as the
traditional flush hands still pay off at a higher level, but the fact that the
colored flush hands pay off anything gives a spark to Color Match Royals video
poker.

In addition to all of those extras, Color Match Royals video poker tables
bump up the payouts slightly for traditional flush and straight flush hands from
where they would normally be in common video poker games. The straight flush
takes a big jump from around 50 to 1 normally to as high as 200 to 1.

Pay Tables and Payback Percentages for Color Match Royals Video Poker

A pay table is a chart that you will find on the screen of each machine
letting you know how much you can expect to win from each hand that you make.
The payback percentage is a number that estimates what amount of money the
player might expect to return from a video poker machine during an average
session.

The pay table and the payback percentage work hand in hand. You can figure
out the payback percentage by examining the payouts for winning hands and
factoring in the probabilities for achieving those hands. One basically works
off the others.

It’s important to note when looking at the Color Match Royals video poker pay
tables that the last column on the right reads “5 Coins” but actually refers to
a ten coin wager that activates the colored flushes part of the game. You should
also realize that payback percentages are an estimation and may not reflect your
own experience at a machine.

You might be lucky enough to win a lot right off the bat, or you could
struggle to get winning hands. Over time, however, your winnings and losings on
a specific pay table should come close to the listed percentage.

When reading those percentages, think of it in terms that 100 percent would
mean that you got back exactly what you put in. Rarely does a machine reach a
100 percent payback percentage, though. That reflects the house edge that comes
in to play in most casino entertainments.

Finally, note that the payback percentages listed are all based on the notion
of perfect play. That means that you would make the mathematically correct
decision each and every hand that you play. We’ll talk more about that in the
strategy section below.

Here, then, are some of the pay tables that you may encounter when playing
Color Match Royals video poker either at a casino or online. Following that is a
chart listing the payback percentages for those games.

Strategy for Color Match Royals Video Poker

The tricky thing about strategy for a game like Color Match Royals video
poker is the fact that there are so many competing pay tables involved. Each
table demands their own strategic moves in terms of holds and discards on the
deal, because each pays out slightly differently for winning hands. Your best
bet would be to acquaint yourself with these games in the
video poker section
of this site.

On top of that, the colored flush aspect of Color Match Royals video poker
adds an extra layer of difficulty to deciding on holds and discards. Many people
rely on strategy charts to decide on what to discard. A strategy chart ranks the
possible combinations of cards you might get in a deal so you know what to
discard automatically.

The problem is that it might be hard to come by a strategy chart for Color
Match Royals video poker, let alone one that covers each specific pay table. You
also are likely to run into the same problem with video poker software training,
which is another excellent way to achieve perfect play under normal
circumstances.

We can give you some basic tips that will help you on your way in this
department. After that, if you really want to become an expert on Color Match
Royals video poker, it’s up to you to do your research or simply play it enough
that the best strategic moves start to become clear.

Strategy Quick Tips

• Mind the Pay Table: You must always be aware of which
  variation of the game you are playing. Bonus poker variations require you to
  look out for four of a kind hands. Jacks or Better requires you to stick to
  traditional five-card poker strategy in most cases, while keeping the
  colored flushes in mind.
• Seeing Red or Black: If you get a deal where all or
  most of your hand consists of a single color, you should immediately be
  ready to act on it. A colored flush at four to one is a good payout, and if
  you can move up to the colored straight or colored royal flush, you can
  really win big. Try to think in terms of colors as much as suits while
  playing this game.
• Bet the Max: Ten coins per hand is no small amount, but
  the payback percentages for the game in max-bet mode is better in most cases
  than if you were playing just one through five coins. Remember that any bet
  less than five coins will reduce your payout dramatically if you hit a
  natural royal flush, the most coveted hand in the game.

Conclusion

Color Match Royals video poker creates some interesting opportunities for
video poker players in terms of ways to win. Of course, you can’t get to those
opportunities without ponying up a little more each hand, but the chance to see
all red or black on the screen and have that pay off for you should more than
make up the difference.