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THE ROYAL STRATEGY
This strategy is designed for aggressive, high-risk player who want to maximize their chances of hitting a Royal Flush in the short-term.
The Royal Strategy should return a little less over a short run than the Optimal Strategy unless you hit the progressive soon enough to make it profitable. And that's the key to making it work for you. It's a short-term strategy - with a great deal of risk to maximize your chances of hitting the royal.
Royal Strategy
High Cards = Ace, King, Queen, Jack
Gap = Two non consecutive cards e.g. a 6 and an 8
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Hand Dealt
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Number to Draw
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| Four Cards to a Royal |
1 |
| Three-of-a-kind |
2 |
| Four Cards Straight Flush |
1 |
| Two Pair |
1 |
| High Pair |
3 |
| Three Cards to a Royal |
2 |
| Four Cards Flush |
1 |
| Low Pair |
3 |
| Open End Straight |
1 |
| Three to a Straight Flush |
3 |
| Two to a Royal |
3 |
| Three High Cards |
2 |
| Two High Cards |
3 |
| Inside Straight - 3 + high cards |
1 |
| Three to a Straight Flush w/gap |
2 |
| One High Card |
4 |
| Mixed Low Cards |
5 |
Start at the top and work down until you find the first draw that fits your hand and use it.
As an exception to the pat hands mentioned earlier, it should be noted that, depending on the jackpot, the Royal Strategy player would not keep a straight as a pat hand if four of those cards are of the same suit:
10  J Q A K
Discard the K and try for the K
9 10  J Q K
Keep face cards (suited) and discard 9
Looking for the A .
It is for the aggressive player with a bankroll large enough to ignore the long-term probabilities, to ride out the losing streaks, and to catch up during the winning streaks. The royalist also ignores the expected values and pushes his luck to make the machine deal him the royal.
Like the table of Conservative Strategy, this one has been condensed to 17 entries. However, the expected values of like hands have been distorted somewhat in favor of a draw to a Royal flush at the possible expense of losing more probable payouts according to the Optimum method of play.
The royalist attitude is "nothing ventured, nothing gained." Sometimes he may get "reckless" and throw away a flush with four high cards, drawing one card to fill in the royal.
A K Q J 6 of same suit (Discard the 6 and hope of a 10 and an ordered royal.)
A K Q 10 5 of same suit (Discard 5 and hope for a Jack)
You will almost always throw away a pat straight with four cards to a Royal.
Example:
A K Q J 10 (Discard 10 to draw 10 for an ordered Royal.)
K Q J 10 9  (Discard 9 to draw A )
These are the "exceptions" mentioned earlier. At this point, the royalist is veering off course in an attempt to catch a shooting star. He is plainly pressing his luck. If the progressive pot or bonus is high enough, he considers the possible loss worth the risk. Sometimes the potential win justifies the additional risk. As we stated earlier, many strategists use a distorted Royal Flush Strategy based on a trade-off of expected value for a potentially larger payout.
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