Royal Hunt Video Poker Tips and Strategy

Royal Hunt video poker represents one of the most unique twists in the entire realm of video poker. It also puts the possibility of a royal flush much more into play than if you were playing a simple variation such as Jacks or Better without the twist. Needless to say, it takes a significant extra wager to play with this twist, but what you get out of it is definitely worth what you put into it.

Video poker, in its most basic form, acts as a kind of simulation of five card draw video poker. Players receive five cards on a deal and have one chance to improve their initial hand with the draw, which allows them to replace the cards that aren’t helping with others from the same deck they were dealt from. It’s an easy game to learn, as the object is to simply deliver a hand that the pay table for the machine deems a winner.

But the most basic level of gameplay doesn’t do it for some who want to see a little bit more excitement. This is where Royal Hunt video poker comes in. It’s for those who want more opportunities to score higher-paying hands than when playing the game in its simplest form (known as Jacks or Better). Or they might want a twist on the deal-draw format which is the basis for the game.

Royal Hunt video poker fulfills those exciting needs. First of all, it gives you the chance to choose from a variety of pay tables, which means that you can find ones that include more high-paying hands that are easier to achieve. It also takes place in triple play mode, which means you will be playing three hands at once, thereby speeding up the pace of play considerably.

What’s most exciting of all is the twist in the game that you can activate by doubling the maximum bet. This is no small decision, as it means you will be playing 30 credits for every single deal of the cards. But the twist opens up exciting possibilities, specifically the chance at extra hands with boosted pay tables attached to them.

When you play Royal Hunt video poker with the extra feature and receive at least two cards to a royal flush on the deal, you will receive six extra hands on top of the three that you are playing anyway. The cards involved in the royal flush will automatically be carried over to the extra hands as the ones that are automatically held, then you get to see what the different draws bring.

As you might expect, having hands with at least two cards that are within the range of 10 through ace and of the same suit is a great building block for the extra hands. On top of that, the pay tables that are attached to these hands are different from the main ones. Specifically, they significantly boost the payback for just about every common hand.

All of this makes the possibility of receiving certain cards on the deal a very exciting prospect and almost certainly a lucrative one. But the price that you pay for this privilege is a significant one. If you don’t get those cards for several hands in a row, your bankroll can take a serious hit.

In the following article, we’ll talk about how to play Royal Hunt video poker by examining basic play, triple play mode, and the extra twist. We’ll talk about the various pay tables and the versions of those pay tables that come into play during the extra hands. And we’ll look at how you can learn strategy and what the advantages and disadvantages of this game are.

Basic Video Poker Play

Video poker combines many of the best features of table games and slot machines, making it, in many ways, the best game that you could choose in a casino. Royal Hunt video poker is a bit of an advanced version, but not one that is too hard to learn once you figure out how to play the basic game. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how to play a basic hand of video poker.

Step 1: Put in Your Money

The money that you enter into the video poker machine will be your bankroll for when you play. If you play online at a gambling website, you’ll need to create an account. You should build a bankroll that will allow you to sustain play for as long as you wish based on the style of gameplay for the machine.

The bankroll will be rendered as credits, with each credit being equal to the denomination of the machine that you’re playing. For example, if you put in $10 at a 25-cent machine, you will receive 40 credits. That number is reached by dividing the money you entered by the denomination (10 divided by .25 equals 40).

Step 2: Make Your Bet

Most basic video poker machines require you to bet one through five credits per hand. But Royal Hunt video poker is different because of the triple play mode and the possibility of the extra feature bets. For that reason, we’ll talk more about betting as we go through those specific scenarios.

Step 3: Play Your Hand

Before playing Royal Hunt video poker, you need an understanding of how winning poker hands work. Different pay tables can have different winning hands attached to them. But the following hands are what you’ll be trying to make, because they pay back money based on your original bet:

• Pair of jacks of 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)

The hands are listed from easiest to achieve to most difficult to achieve, and from least lucrative to most lucrative. The reason some are harder to achieve than others has to do with the probabilities that are connected to a 52-card deck and the structure of video poker gameplay. You will need at least a small understanding of these probabilities to play Royal Hunt video poker well.

When you receive your five cards on the deal, see if there are any combinations similar to the winning hands listed above. You might be lucky enough to have a winning hand right off the bat. If not, you can exchange cards on the draw in an effort to get a winning hand.

You will have to decide which of the combinations of cards in your hands are worth pursuing based on the chances that you might attain a winning hand with what you can get on the draw. You should also think about how much those winning hands will pay. In other words, you will be judging the risk against the possible reward.

Once you make this decision, you will press the hold button under the cards you wish to keep, if any. At this moment, the machine will replace the cards you have discarded with others from the 47 cards remaining in the deck. 47 comes from the fact that there were 52 cards originally, but you received five on the deal.

That is the end of the hand. You will be awarded winnings if you manage a winning hand. At this point, you can continue to play by repeating steps two and three or cash out your winnings. If you have lost all your credits, you will need to put in more to continue playing.

Video Poker Triple Play Mode

Royal Hunt video poker is a game which only takes place in triple play mode, which means that you will be playing three hands at a time. You must make a bet on each of these hands, anywhere from one through coins. That means, if you play the game without the twist, you will need to play anywhere from three to 15 credits per deal.

In triple play mode for Royal Hunt video poker, you will be playing from one deal. The decisions that you make for this deal will then be replayed for all three hands. For example, imagine that you receive the following deal:

Let’s say that you decide to hold on to the hearts in the hopes of a flush, thereby discarding the four of clubs. You will then receive three draws from three separate 47-card decks (again, 52 minus the five you were dealt) with those cards held. And your results for each draw might differ in a manner such as this:

Draw 1:

Draw 2:

Draw 3:

In the first draw, you ended up with a pair of kings. Draw 2 saw you make your flush. Alas, the third draw is a loser.

You would then consult the pay table you have chosen to play to see what your pay would be for the two winning hands. These would be added to your winnings. As you can see, a good deal in Triple Play mode really amplifies your chances for winning a lot in a hurry, but a bad deal can make it touch on your bankroll, since you might be losing three hands at once.

Playing With the Royal Hunt Video Poker Twist

The good thing about Royal Hunt video poker is that you really don’t have to learn anything new to utilize it. Once you make the bet to activate it, the machine will do the rest. You just have to decide if the twist is worth it.

First of all, you must double your maximum bet of 15 credits for three hands to play with the Royal Hunt video poker twist. That means that you will be betting 30 credits for every round that you play. This can seem like a lot, but you’ll see that the extra twist adds something really special and you’ll likely consider it worthwhile.

Let’s say that you have activated the Royal Hunt video poker twist by making the 30-coin play. When you receive at least two cards of a royal flush in the deal, extra hands come into play. Let’s take a look at how it works with a sample deal that would qualify:

First of all, you can see that you have the king of spades and ace of spades. They are indeed two cards out of a potential royal flush. That means that you will be receiving six extra hands for free.

But first, let’s talk about the three hands that you have paid for. You are not obligated to keep the king or ace of spades, even though they are the cards that were responsible for kicking the extra hands into gear. In this case, the better Royal Hunt video poker strategy is to keep the pair of fours and dump everything else.

Let’s say that you do this and receive the following on your three main hands:

Hand 1:

Hand 2:

Hand 3:

In Hand 1, you received a full house, while Hand 2 produced three of a kind. The third hand was a loser. Assuming you were using a Jacks or Better pay table (more on that below), you would have received 45 coins in payback for the full house and 15 coins for the three of a kind, giving you 60 coins in return right off the bat.

But we haven’t even made it to the extra hands for Royal Hunt video poker. The extra hands will all contain the king of spades and ace of spades automatically held. They will also be separated into three corresponding pairs of draws, one on each side, which is important for reasons that you’ll see in a moment.

Again, you don’t have to make any decisions for the extra feature in Royal Hunt video poker. The machine will put the two cards automatically and complete the draws. Just sit back and watch to see how much you can win.

Let’s imagine that the draws for the three extra hands on the left side work out like this:

Extra Hand 1 Left Side:

Extra Hand 2 Left Side:

Extra Hand 3 Left Side:

These draws will take place before the three draws on the right side, and you’ll see why in a minute. First of all, let’s take a look at you won on the left side. Hand 1 gave you a flush, while Hand 2 provided you with a pair of kings; Hand 3 was a loser.

Keep in mind that your winnings for the extra hands on Royal Hunt video poker will come from special pay tables which are much more lucrative than the basic ones. Taking a look at what you won here, it’s 50 coins for a flush and 20 coins for the pair of kings, giving you 70 more coins to your winnings.

Now, on to the hands on the right side. But first, one note: Whenever one of the draws on the left produces a card that is also within the same royal flush family that first activated the extra draws, that card will then be held over to the corresponding hand on the right, giving you an even better shot at a royal flush in Royal Hunt video poker.

You can see from our draws above that Hand 1 on the left added a jack of spades to the king and the ace of spades. Therefore, Hand 1 on the right will include all three of those cards as holds. The other two hands on the right will again hold over just the king of spades and the ace of spades, since the corresponding draws on the left didn’t provide any more royal flush cards.

Again, this might seem like a lot of information, but it’s nothing that you have to worry about beyond deciding if it’s worth using the extra feature in the first place. If you do choose to use it, the Royal Hunt video poker machine will work it all out. Here’s how the hands on the right end up:

Extra Hand 1 Right Side:

Extra Hand 2 Right Side:

Extra Hand 3 Right Side:

The first hand produced a straight, which pays off 45 coins. While the second hand was a loser, the third hand added a pair of aces for another 20 coins. That gives you 65 more coins.

Adding everything up on this example, you will receive 195 coins on a 30-coin wager, for a profit of 165 coins. And you achieved all that with nothing higher in your 15 total hands than a full house. That gives you an idea of how the profits can add up when you are playing Royal Hunt video poker.

Of course, the flip side is that you might activate the feature and go several deals without getting at least two cards to a royal flush. In those cases, you will essentially be paying double but still receiving normal payoffs. Even if you win one of your three hands, you could still end up with a net loss, while a triple play round where you come up empty will take a 30-coin bite out of your bankroll.

You have to assess all of these possibilities when deciding whether or not to play Royal Hunt video poker. This game is suited for high rollers or those who don’t worry too much about losing their bankroll if it means they have an increased chance at a quick, significant score. If, however, you would like to play video poker for a long time with a limited bankroll, this game probably isn’t for you.

Royal Hunt Video Poker Pay Tables

As we mentioned above, Royal Hunt video poker lets you choose from among the most popular pay tables within the world of real money video poker. You can choose tables which are more stable and let you grind out play with small winnings. Or you can go for aggressive bonus tables which raise the payback for difficult hands like four of a kind at the expense of some of the more common hands that come up during gameplay more often.

The difference with Royal Hunt video poker is that there are two sets of pay tables. First, there are the ones that govern basic triple play mode. Then there are the ones that are in play whenever the extra hands are activated by the special feature.

Here is a sampling of the basic pay tables:

Jacks or Better Pay Tables

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	5	10	15	20	25
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of a kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pairs	2	4	6	8	10
Jacks or better	1	2	3	4	5

Bonus Poker Pay Tables

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Royal flush	200	400	600	800	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)	25	50	75	100	125
Full house	7	14	21	28	35
Flush	5	10	15	20	25
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of a kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pairs	2	4	6	8	10
Jacks or better	1	2	3	4	5

Double Double Bonus Poker Pay Tables

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 aces without any 2,3,4	400	800	1,200	1,600	2,000
Four 2s, 3s, or 4s without any A,2,3,4	160	320	460	640	800
Four aces	160	320	460	640	800
Four 2s, 3s, or 4s	80	160	240	320	400
Four 5s through Ks	50	100	150	200	250
Full house	9	18	27	36	45
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 Tables

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Royal flush	200	400	600	800	4,000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four of a kind – A, 2, 3, or 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	460	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	9	18	27	36	45
Flush	6	12	18	24	20
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

Deuces Wild Pay Tables

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Four deuces	200	400	600	800	1,000
Wild royal flush	20	40	60	80	100
Five of a kind	12	24	36	48	60
Straight flush	10	20	30	40	50
Four of a kind	4	8	12	16	20
Full house	4	8	12	16	20
Flush	3	6	9	12	15
Straight	2	4	6	8	10
Three of a kind	1	2	3	4	5

Now, take a look at the corresponding pay tables for the same variations, but this time for the extra hands brought on by the extra bet on Royal Hunt video poker and the royal flush cards:

Jacks or Better Pay Tables

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	12	24	36	48	60
Flush	10	20	30	40	50
Straight	9	18	27	36	45
Three of a kind	8	16	24	32	40
two pairs	6	12	18	24	30
Jacks or better	4	8	12	16	20

Bonus Poker Pay Tables

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Royal flush	200	400	600	800	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)	25	50	75	100	125
Full house	11	22	33	44	55
Flush	10	20	30	40	50
Straight	9	18	27	37	45
Three of a kind	8	16	24	32	40
Two pairs	6	12	18	24	30
Jacks or better	4	8	12	16	20

Double Double Bonus Poker 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 aces without any 2,3,4	400	800	1,200	1,600	2,000
Four 2s, 3s, or 4s, without any A,2,3,4	160	320	460	640	800
Four aces	160	320	460	640	800
Four 2s, 3s, or 4s	80	160	240	320	400
Four 5s through Ks	50	100	150	200	250
Full house	12	24	36	48	60
Flush	11	22	33	44	55
Straight	9	18	27	36	45
Three of a kind	7	14	21	28	35
Two pairs	6	12	18	24	30
Pair of jacks +	4	8	12	16	20

Triple Double Bonus Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Royal flush	200	400	600	800	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	460	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	11	22	33	44	55
Flush	10	20	30	40	50
Straight	9	18	27	36	45
Three of a kind	8	16	24	32	40
Two pairs	6	12	18	24	30
Pair of jacks +	4	8	12	16	20

Deuces Wild Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Four deuces	200	400	600	800	1,000
Wild royal rush	100	200	300	400	500
Five of a kind	24	48	72	96	120
Straight flush	17	34	51	68	85
Four of a kind	13	26	39	52	65
Full house	13	26	39	52	65
Flush	11	22	33	44	55
Straight	9	18	27	36	45
Three of a kind	8	16	24	32	40

You can see how differently the two sets of tables pay off for common hands. These exaggerated payoffs are what make the extra feature in Royal Hunt video poker worth the extra bet. Over the long haul, making the 30-coin wager and activating these pay tables for the extra hands will give you the best payback percentage.

Royal Hunt Video Poker Strategy

The good news for Royal Hunt video poker is that you don’t really need to learn any extra strategy to play the game well. Since the extra features require no decisions on your part other than whether to bet the extra amount to activate them, you just have to concentrate on your main three hands. You can use one of these two methods which are most recommended for learning proper video poker strategy.

• Strategy Charts: These can be found online for all of the pay tables listed above and should be memorized so that you can bring the knowledge with you into the casino. A strategy chart ranks all of the possible combinations of cards you might receive in your hand in terms of expected value. When you compare what you have in your deal to the chart, you’ll know which cards aren’t needed and which you should hold.
• Video Poker Training Software: The software is useful because it can be tailored to any pay table that you might wish to learn. It allows you to simulate play as if you were in a casino, with bankroll management and everything else you need. When you make an incorrect decision on a Royal Hunt video poker deal about what to hold and what to discard, the machine will let you know and tell you the right one, so you’ll learn from your mistakes.

Conclusion on Royal Hunt Video Poker

Royal Hunt video poker, whether you find it in a casino or locate it on a top real money online casino, creates rapid-fire excitement like few other video poker variations. You can really see your winnings soar when you use the extra twist and end up with some royal flush-ready cards on the deal. Just be prepared for the dry spells to hurt a little bit more because of the big bets that you have to make to activate the lucrative twist.