How to Play Reversible Royals Video Poker

Reversible Royals video poker affords players an opportunity for jackpots they wouldn’t normally acquire playing basic video poker. It usually doesn’t matter what order the cards appear on the screen when you achieve a royal flush, the highest-paying hand in the entire game. But in this game, you get some serious incentive to make the royal flush in order of rank from 10 through ace or ace through 10.

Video poker is the favorite of many gamblers in casinos and at top gambling websites, in part because of how it allows players to tackle it in many different ways. When you see a row of video poker machines or a list of online video poker games if you’re playing virtually, you’re likely looking at a wide variety of payback opportunities. The most common source of variety is the pay table, which can change strategy and payback in drastic fashion with slight adjustments.

Some video poker pay tables are adjusted via changes to lower-paying hands. Then, there are bonus pay tables, which usually boost payback for four of a kind. But Reversible Royals video poker is one of the few games that does something different with the royal flush, which is the ultimate goal of video poker.

Royals in Sequence

Reversible Royals video poker gives you a reason to try for a special kind of royal flush. You’ll still get paid the normal amount if you make a traditional royal flush, meaning that the 10 through ace suited show up on the screen in any order. But the real fireworks start if those cards happened to be arranged in sequence, either front to back or back to front.

There is a version of video poker known as Sequential Royals which requires you to make the royal flush in order from 10 (on the far left of the screen) through ace (on the far right) to get a vastly increased payoff on the hand from where it normally stands. But Reversible Royals video poker gives you a little more leeway. You get the big bonus payback if you can go in either direction with the cards in order of their rank and no interruptions.

If you can do that, a progressive jackpot awaits you. This jackpot can push your payback sky-high when playing Reversible Royals video poker. In fact, your payback percentage may even exceed 100 percent, which means it’s the rare game which can eliminate the house edge.

Adjusted Pay Tables

No video poker game is going to give you a bonus like Reversible Royals video poker does without taking something away. In this case, many of the mid-priced hands on the various pay tables will be discounted. It makes the game far more volatile than what those pay tables would normally cause.

It also means that you’re very dependent on achieving one of those royal flush hands in order to meet your potential payback. As video poker players know, even a normal royal flush in any order on the screen is extremely rare. Your task will be even more difficult in Reversible Royals video poker, meaning that risk is pumped up to match the potentially massive reward.

In the following article, we’ll explain everything there is to know about the game known as Reversible Royals video poker. We’ll talk about basic video poker and we’ll also get into the effect that the special royal flush payouts will have. Finally, we’ll go over the various pay tables at your disposal, look at the potential payback percentage you can achieve, and go into the importance of strategy.

Why You Should Be Playing Video Poker

We’ll go into the specifics of why Reversible Royals video poker makes for a great version of video poker in a bit. But we also realize that there are many people reading this who might be trying out video poker for the first time with this game. If you’re in that category, you might not even realize why video poker is so popular in the first place.

When you play video poker for real money, you’re essentially playing a game that takes the best parts of other casino games and mashes them together. You have the self-contained play of slot machines, which many people love. But you also get a taste of the strategy and great payback that comes with table games.

But it’s much more than that. Take a look at some of the reasons why video poker is the game of choice for gamblers who know their stuff:

• You’ll be playing video poker all by yourself. That means no hassles from other players or casino employees. With no one else involved, you get to play at your own pace and now have to answer for anything you’re doing within the game.
• You can find the video poker game that’s just right for you. If you search, you’ll find dozens upon dozens of different spins on basic video poker. Once you look around, you’re likely to find a version of the game that suits how you like to gamble, in terms of risk and reward.
• You don’t need to be a poker expert to play video poker. In fact, you don’t really need any previous poker knowledge at all. After a few practice hands, you shouldn’t have any issues playing video poker well.
• You get a chance to impact whether you win or lose. Whereas many one-person casino games like slot machines are devoid of strategy, video poker lets you choose which cards to hold and discard. Those choices will have a direct correlation to whether you win or lose.
• You don’t have to guess with video poker about your chances. Since you’ll normally be playing with a 52-card simulated deck, your chances of making winning poker hands can be calculated. On top of that, the pay table shows you how much you’ll make from those winning hands.
• You can achieve excellent payback with video poker. Reversible Royals video poker offers you the chance for a big payback on the spot. But it also allows you to earn solid payback in the long run as well.
• You can play video poker at top online casino sites and get an experience just as exciting as the casino. Some table games fall a little bit short, in their online version, of what you get in the casino. That isn’t the case with video poker, where it’s pretty much the same both in the casino and online.

Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of how video poker benefits you as a player. Now, it’s just a matter of learning how to play. Follow the next section to see the process of playing a hand of Reversible Royals video poker.

How to Play Video Poker

Step 1: Make Your Bankroll

You can’t get started in video poker, for real money anyway, unless you have a bankroll in place. If you’re playing on a video poker machine, you just have to put money in the machine. And, if you’re playing online, you have to fund a gambling account via whatever methods are allowed at the site you’re using (credit cards, e-payment systems, cryptocurrency, etc.).

When you have your bankroll in place, it will register as a system of units, sometimes called credits or coins. The value of these credits or coins will be derived from the denomination you’ve chosen to play. As an example, a 10-credit win at a 25-cent machine will earn you $2.50 (10 times .25).

Step 2: Decide on Your Bet

For the most part, Reversible Royals video poker stands in line with standard video poker games, in that you’ll be choosing bets of anywhere between one and five coins per hand. We have heard of some Reversible Royals games where you can bet up to 10 coins for an enhanced pay table. But those are relatively rare.

In any case, what you need to know is that the max bet of five coins is the smartest way to play video poker. This is especially true with Reversible Royals video poker. First of all, there’s the payback for a standard royal flush:

On top of that, the special progressive payback for getting a royal flush in order is only applicable when you bet five coins. With a bet of one through four coins, you still get a hefty payoff for one of these special royal flushes in Reversible Royals video poker. But it is nowhere near what you would get on the progressive front.

If you feel like betting five coins per hand is too much for your budget as you play Reversible Royals video poker, we suggest that you lower the denomination, if possible, to the point where you can make the max bet every hand. That will allow you to still play for the big progressive payouts. And it will do so while allowing you to bet less money per hand.

Step 3: Play Your Hand

The basic rules of play of video poker follow along with what takes place in the card game known as Five-Card Draw. You receive five cards on the deal and then have the opportunity to hold or discard those cards. Cards that are discarded will be replaced by others from the deck to complete the five-card hand.

But you have to remember that Five-Card Draw is a multiple-player game. As a result, you usually need a substantial poker hand to win a pot. Barring that, you have to bluff your way into being the only one left in the hand.

Video poker doesn’t require those methods, since you’re the only player involved in the game. To win payback, you just have to form one of the winning combinations on the pay table. In the case of Reversible Royals video poker, these are the winning combinations you’ll try to make:

• Pair of jacks or better
• Two pair
• Three of a kind
• Straight (five cards of consecutive rank, like 3-4-5-6-7)
• Flush (five cards of same suit)
• Full house (three of a kind and two pair in the same hand)
• Four of a kind
• Straight flush (straight with five cards of same suit)
• Royal flush (ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of the same suit)
• Reversible royal (royal flush in sequence on screen, either 10 through ace or ace through 10)

Looking at the list of hands above, you should realize that they are ranked in terms of your likelihood of achieving them. The combinations at the top are easiest to make, and they get progressively more difficult as you move down. Payback is based on that hierarchy, as the hands that are hardest to make pay the most.

That means you always have to judge when to go for a low-paying hand that might be easy to make, versus trying for a difficult hand that will pay a lot more. We’ll talk more about that when we get to the strategy section, as there are certain procedures to learn the right plays in every situation.

The Deal

The deal in Reversible Royals video poker will come from a simulated 52-card deck, containing the same cards as in a standard 52-card deck used for most card games. These cards are always being shuffled by the game’s software, so that you can expect every deal to be fair and random. There won’t be any patterns or trends based on anything that has happened at a given machine up to the point of that deal.

The Decision

Once you have the five cards in front of you, you’ll have to decide which cards to hold and which cards to discard. The cards that you hold will be part of the hand which is scored, meaning that’s the hand that will determine whether you win money back or lose your bet. And the cards that you discard will be replaced on the draw.

Remember that the deck has 47 cards left in it for the draw, since the five cards from your deal can’t be part of the draw. That will play into your decision-making. You have to think of the following two factors:

• What are your chances of comprising a winning combination based on what you might hold and what you can draw?
• What is the potential payback for the winning combinations within your reach?

Keep in mind that you have the option of holding all five cards if you think that your hand is already a winner and can’t be improved. Or you can discard all five cards if you don’t think any of them can be of help to you. Take a look at this example and you can see how the decision-making process works.

Sample Video Poker Hand

Imagine that you were playing Reversible Royals video poker and received the following five cards:

In this deal, you don’t have any winning combinations available to you. But you might be able to tell, at first glance, that there are several combinations which aren’t that far from being winners. But you have to decide which of those to pursue.

You could:

• Hold the pair of fours. You can then draw three cards with the hope of improving. The possibilities at that point include two pair, three of a kind, a full house, or four of a kind.
• Hold the four clubs. In that case, you would only be discarding the four of diamonds. You’d have a nine in 47 chance of drawing one of the clubs left to possibly end up with a flush.
• Hold the four, five and six of clubs. There would be two discards in this place, giving you the opportunity for many different winning combinations. With the three suited connectors, you could even end up with a straight flush, one of the highest-paying hands in the game.

This is an example of a hand that presents many choices. Many of the other deals you’ll get playing Reversible Royals video poker won’t provide with quite as many opportunities, meaning your choice will be much easier. In any case, once you play video poker for a while, you’ll be able to make even tough decisions like this in a matter of seconds.

The Draw

To make your decision, you’ll indicate which cards you wish to hold by touching the buttons or clicking on the icons. The cards that you leave alone will be discarded once you hit the “draw” button. For that reason, you should do a quick double-check at the screen to make sure your choices are represented correctly.

Once you hit the “draw” button, you’ll see that the cards you’ve chosen to discard are replaced with others from the deck. At that point, if you’ve made a winning hand, you’ll receive the amount specified on the pay table in your bankroll. That completes the hand.

If you choose to continue, you just need to repeat the steps outlines above. Or, if you want to quit and collect your winnings, you can do so. Those playing at a machine can have a redemption ticket printed out and redeem that, while online players can always make a request for a withdrawal.

Getting A Reversible Royal

The name of the game is Reversible Royals video poker, and it’s important to explain what that means. In most cases, video poker games reward a royal flush higher than any other hand. That’s because it is the hardest hand to achieve out of all the standard winning poker hands.

In those standard video poker games, it doesn’t matter what order the cards appear on the screen. For example, here are a few ways that you can get a royal flush in standard poker:

All of these qualify as a royal flush in standard video poker. And they do as well in Reversible Royals video poker. But there is also the chance for you to form royal flushes that can win you even more, specifically a progressive jackpot.

The way to do this is to achieve a royal flush in which the cards go from left across the screen in order by rank. They can go from lower to higher or higher to lower. Here are two examples of a royal flush that will make you eligible for the bonus in Reversible Royals video poker:

You can see that, in both of those cases, the cards go in exact order. The first is ascending and the second is descending. And they both would earn you the big progressive bonus.

As we’ll see when we get to the pay tables, the payback for the special royal flushes will really incentivize you to go for those hands when you can. That’s why it is so important to understand the differences engendered by the so-called sequential royals.

Reversible Royals Video Poker Pay Tables

One of the benefits of Reversible Royals video poker is that it allows you to choose between many styles of video poker pay tables. But it is crucial to understand that there are some differences in these pay tables. You might want to check them out to see if you like the way they change play up before you commit to playing this game on a regular basis.

When you play Reversible Royals video poker, these are the games which will be available to you:

• Jacks or Better
• Bonus Poker
• Bonus Deluxe Poker
• Double Bonus Poker
• Double Double Bonus Poker
• Triple Double Bonus Poker

We’ve also found instances of Reversible Royals video poker with Deuces Wild pay tables involved. However, like the games with 10-coin betting options, these games are few and far between.

Let’s take a look at the pay tables that you’ll see in Reversible Royals video poker:

Jacks or Better Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Reversible Royals	500	1,000	1,500	2,000	Progressive
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a kind	25	50	75	100	125
Full house	6	12	18	24	30
Flush	5	10	15	20	25
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pairs	2	4	6	8	10
Jacks or better	1	2	3	4	5

Bonus Poker Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Reversible royals	500	1,000	1,500	2,000	Progressive
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a kind (aces)	80	160	240	320	400
Four of a kind (2s, 3s, or 4s)	40	80	120	160	200
Four of a kind (any other)	10	20	30	40	50
Full house	8	16	24	32	40
Flush	5	10	15	20	25
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of a kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pairs	1	2	3	4	5
Jacks or better	1	2	3	4	5

Bonus Poker Deluxe Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Reversible royals	500	1,000	1,500	2,000	Progressive
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a kind	80	160	240	320	400
Full house	6	12	18	24	30
Flush	5	10	15	20	25
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of a kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pairs	1	2	3	4	5
Jacks or better	1	2	3	4	5

Double Bonus Poker Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Reversible royals	500	1,000	1,500	2,000	Progressive
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a kind (aces)	160	320	480	640	800
Four of a kind (2s, 3s, or 4s)	80	160	240	320	400
Four of a kind (any other)	50	100	150	200	250
Full house	8	16	24	32	40
Flush	5	10	15	20	25
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of a kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pairs	1	2	3	4	5
Jacks or better	1	2	3	4	5

Double Double Bonus Poker Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Reversible royals	500	1,000	1,500	2,000	Progressive
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four aces w/ any 2,3,4	400	800	1,200	1,600	2,000
Four 2s, 3s, 4s w/ any A,2,3,4	160	320	480	640	800
Four aces	160	320	480	640	800
Four 2s, 3s, 4s	80	160	240	320	400
Four 5s through Ks	50	100	150	200	250
Full house	6	12	18	24	30
Flush	5	10	15	20	25
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of a kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pairs	1	2	3	4	5
Pair of jacks +	1	2	3	4	5

Triple Double Bonus Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Reversible royals	500	1,000	1,500	2,000	Progressive
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a kind – aces 2, 3, 4 kicker	800	1,600	2,400	3,200	4,000
Four of a kind – 2s, 3s, or 4s A, 2, 3, or 4 kicker	400	800	1,200	1,600	2,000
Four of a kind – aces 5s – Ks kicker	160	320	480	640	800
Four of a kind – 2s, 3s, or 4s 5s – Ks kicker	80	160	240	320	400
Four of a kind – any other	50	100	150	200	250
Full house	7	14	21	28	35
Flush	5	10	15	20	25
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of a kind	2	4	6	8	10
Two pairs	1	2	3	4	5
Pair of jacks +	1	2	3	4	5

Without any context, you might not understand what the differences in these pay tables are, especially if you’re new to the world of video poker. Let’s provide you with some of that context. Here is a look at what a common Jacks or Better pay table looks like:

Jacks or Better Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a kind	25	50	75	100	125
Full house	9	18	27	36	45
Flush	6	12	18	24	30
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pairs	2	4	6	8	10
Jacks or better	1	2	3	4	5

As you can see, there is no progressive jackpot available in common Jacks or Better, which makes it obviously different from the version of it found in Reversible Royals video poker. You also have no extra payout for forming a royal flush in any specific way.

But you’ll notice that the Jacks or Better holds an edge in the middle of the pay table for a couple key hands. Take a look.

Hand/Table	Jacks or Better	Reversible Royals Video Poker
Full house	9 to 1	6 to 1
Flush	6 to 1	5 to 1

If you were to compare the other Reversible Royals video poker pay tables to their counterparts, you’d find similar discrepancies all along the way. You will usually find that the discounts in those middle-priced hands causes your bankroll to droop a bit more when you’re playing Reversible Royals video poker than when you’re playing the common versions. That’s because these hands will appear with some regularity if you play long enough.

But the presence of the Reversible Royals video poker jackpot is the compensation for that. If you can somehow hit the special royal flush, your single-hand winnings would dwarf what you could get playing a common video poker game.

The payback for Reversible Royals video poker is only in the range of 95% without the special royal flush. But there have been instances where the progressive jackpot gets so high that the expected payback percentage will soar over 100%, making it the rare game that eliminates the house edge. If your bankroll is stout enough for you to hold out for the progressive payout, you could really win big in this game.

Strategy for Reversible Royals Video Poker

When it comes to video poker strategy, it isn’t an easy thing to manage. You have to be able to make the right choices for every single deal that you get, in terms of which cards to hold and which to discard. If you make the right choices according to the math, you’ll maximize your potential winnings over the long haul.

Reversible Royals video poker doesn’t make this process any easier. And the main reason for that is the progressive jackpot. Depending on where it lies, your strategy might change from hand to hand.

That’s the kind of situation that can very difficult for novice video poker players to understand. As an example, take a look at the following deal:

In normal video poker situations, this would be one of the easiest decisions to make. You already have two pair with aces and queens. The right play would be to hold those four cards and assure yourself of the two pair payback, discard the ten of hearts, and hope that you might be able to draw another ace of queen for a full house.

But you might also recognize from this deal that the ace of hearts, queen of hearts, and 10 of hearts are already in the positions they would need to be for you to form a reversible royal flush from ace through ten. You would just need the king of hearts (in the second spot) and the jack of hearts (in the fourth spot) to complete it. The chances aren’t great of that happening, but it is an outside possibility.

At some point, the jackpot for the Reversible Royals video poker progressive payback will get high enough that it is a better play to reach for the reversible royal flush here and discard the ace and queen of clubs. You might be giving up a sure thing winning combination, but you’re leaving yourself open for a massive payback. It can be extremely tough for even experienced video poker players to know what the threshold might be for when you should make plays like that.

Learning Reversible Royals Video Poker Strategy

There are some resources you can use to help you along with strategy for Reversible Royals video poker. First of all, there are video poker calculators which allow you to input the values from a pay table and then explain to you the right plays in every situation. If you know where the progressive jackpot stands, either at your local casino or at your favorite gambling website, you can use the information from it to prepare for your session, especially when it comes to hands like the example above.

From there, it’s a matter of learning the strategy for the pay table variation you’re going to be using. There are times where a deal should be played one way on a Jacks or Better table but completely different if you were playing, say, Triple Double Bonus. The differing values on the pay tables demand that you have a unique strategy for each.

With that in mind, you should seek out a method of video poker strategy where all the math is already complete and you just have to learn the results. We suggest one of the two following methods to help you along.

Video Poker Training Software

Training software is an excellent way to learn strategy for those who are really just getting started with video poker. You can get a feel for playing video poker from hand to hand while learning the strategy for a specific game like Reversible Royals video poker as well. The strategy part comes from playing practice hands and getting information about what the right plays are, so that you’ll know it when it comes to playing for real money.

Strategy Charts

Having a strategy chart for Reversible Royals video poker will give you a much quicker path to learning proper strategy for the game, as long as you can memorize it and remember the information when you play. Strategy charts work by ranking all the possible combinations you might receive on the deal in terms of their value going into the draw. Knowing this will tell you what you should be holding and discarding from any deal that you get during an actual session.

Reversible Royals Video Poker Pros and Cons

Conclusion

Reversible Royals video poker gives you incentive to plot for sequential royal flushes. It’s a wonderful game for those who like the idea of a jackpot-style payback within their reach. That’s all fine and good, but just be prepared to struggle a bit if the jackpot doesn’t come your way.