How to Hit Royal Flushes More Often in Video Poker (What Actually Works)

Video Poker Royal Flush: Key Takeaways

• You can’t “trigger” a royal flush. Video poker royals are RNG-driven, each hand is independent, and there’s no such thing as a machine being hot, due, or influenced by rituals.
• What you can control is game selection, pay tables, and strategy. Those three levers determine how often you’ll see royal opportunities in practice and how profitable they are when they hit.
• Pay tables are the biggest needle-mover. Full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better (with an 800-for-1 max-coin royal) materially boosts long-term return, while short-pay royals quietly crush your EV.
• Optimal holds matter because most players throw away royal equity. The key rule is to almost always hold four to a royal, even if it means breaking a made hand, since the expected value is usually highest.
• Volume and volatility are the trade-off. Royals are rare (about 1 in 40,000–45,000 hands), so multi-play and progressives can increase exposure and EV, but they also amplify swings, making bankroll discipline essential.

If you’ve played video poker for more than five minutes, you’ve probably heard someone claim they know how to “trigger” a royal flush. Sit at the right machine. Play at the right time. Warm it up with small bets. Whisper sweet nothings to the deal button. Offer it a cookie and a cocktail.

None of that works.

Royal flushes in video poker are generated by a random number generator (RNG). You can’t influence it, predict it, or coax it into giving you that five-card masterpiece. But – and this is the part players often miss – you can play in ways that make royal flushes appear more often in practice, while also making them far more valuable when they do hit.

“More often” doesn’t mean breaking the math. It means choosing the right games, the right pay tables, and the right holds so you’re not accidentally sabotaging your own odds.

Let’s break down what actually moves the needle.

The Truth: You Can’t Force a Royal – But You Can Maximize Your Chances and Value

Regulated video poker machines are fair and random. Every hand is independent. There’s no memory, no hot streaks, and no such thing as a machine being “due.”

So when players talk about hitting royals more often, what they’re really talking about is controlling the few things that aren’t random:

• Game and pay table selection
• Optimal strategy (especially on royal draws)
• How many hands you play

Do those three things well, and you’ll see more royals over time than someone playing bad machines with sloppy strategy, even though the RNG is identical.

Start With the Best Pay Tables (This Is the Biggest Lever)

If you want more royal flushes that actually matter, pay tables are everything.

In video poker, tiny changes in payouts create massive differences in long-term return. And no payout matters more than the royal flush.

The gold standard example is full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better. That shorthand means:

• 9 credits for a full house
• 6 credits for a flush
• 800-for-1 on a max-coin royal flush

Played perfectly, this game returns about 99.54%, meaning the house edge is just 0.46%, and a huge chunk of that return comes from the royal alone.

Now compare that to a reduced version of the same game where the royal only pays 250 per coin. The gameplay looks identical, but the return drops dramatically and suddenly royal flushes contribute far less to your bottom line.

Why This Matters for Royals

The higher the royal payout, the more your strategy leans into preserving royal draws. Full-pay tables reward correct play. Short-pay tables quietly punish it.

If your goal is hitting royals more often and getting paid properly when they arrive, always start by reading the pay table before inserting a single credit.

Image Credit: Habanero Pixel/Shutterstock

Play the Right Games for Royal Flush Potential

Not all video poker variants treat royal flushes the same way. Choose wisely.

Jacks or Better (Full Pay)

This is the cleanest, most transparent royal-chasing game. Royals are rare – roughly one every 40,000 to 45,000 hands with perfect play – but they’re responsible for a massive share of the game’s total return.

If you’re learning optimal strategy or trying to understand why certain holds matter, Jacks or Better is the ideal baseline.

Bonus and Double Bonus Variants

These games shift value away from full houses and flushes and toward four-of-a-kind payouts. Royals still matter, but the strategy becomes more volatile. You’ll experience longer droughts between big hits, including royals.

Deuces Wild

Deuces Wild technically increases the frequency of “royal-type” hands, including wild royals. However, the strategy is completely different, and the game behaves nothing like Jacks or Better. If your goal is traditional royal flushes, stick with non-wild variants.

Bottom line: if you want a straightforward path to maximizing royal flush value, full-pay Jacks or Better remains the benchmark.

Use Optimal Strategy So You Don’t Throw Away Royal Draws

This is where most players accidentally kneecap themselves.

Hitting a royal isn’t just about luck – it’s about not discarding the cards that lead to a royal in the first place.

The Golden Rule: Four to a Royal Is Sacred

If you’re dealt four cards to a royal flush, you almost always hold them. Period.

Does that mean you’ll sometimes throw away a made hand like a straight or a low flush? Yes. And that feels wrong to many players. But mathematically, four to a royal is one of the strongest holds in video poker.

One of the only exceptions to this Golden Rule is that some paytables might offer reduced payouts for a royal flush compared to other combinations. Make sure to evaluate the specific game rules that you’re playing and always assess the overall strength of your hand and the specific paytable rules before deciding.

However, in the vast majority of scenarios, breaking the four cards to the flush because you “don’t want to risk it” is how players miss royals they never even realize they had a shot at.

Common Royal-Related Decisions Players Botch

• Holding a high pair instead of three to a royal
• Keeping a low made hand that blocks royal potential
• Breaking suited high cards incorrectly
• Chasing weak royal draws when stronger options exist

This is why strategy charts matter. Optimal play isn’t about vibes, it’s about expected value.

If you’re serious about royals, memorizing or referencing a proper poker strategy chart is non-negotiable.

Image Credit: Habanero Pixel/Shutterstock

How Rare Are Royals, Really?

Let’s set expectations, because this is where frustration creeps in.

In optimal Jacks or Better play, a royal flush appears about once every 40,000 – 45,000 hands. That’s not a typo.

At 600 hands per hour (a reasonable pace), that’s roughly one royal every 70 hours of play on average .And averages are cruel – they include long droughts and occasional lightning-strike sessions.

Important takeaway: you’re not “doing it wrong” just because you haven’t seen a royal in weeks or months. That’s normal variance.

More Hands = More Royals (Multi-Play Explained)

While you can’t change the odds per hand, you can increase how many hands you see.

That’s where 3-play, 5-play, and 10-play video poker come in.

Multi-play games deal one initial hand, then clone it across multiple hands for the draw. Each final hand is independent, meaning:

• Same odds per hand
• More total hands per hour
• More exposure to rare events like royals

The trade-off is volatility. Multi-play increases swings dramatically, so bankroll management matters. But if your goal is simply to see more royals over time, this is one of the few legitimate levers available. Think of that episode of The Office where Michael duplicates everything; sometimes it pays off big!

Progressive Royals: When They’re Worth Chasing

Progressive video poker changes the math in interesting ways.

As the royal jackpot climbs above its base payout, the expected value of royal draws increases. At certain jackpot levels, decisions that would normally be close become obvious holds.

Rule of thumb:

The higher the progressive royal meter climbs, the more aggressively you protect royal draws.

That said, progressive strategy can get precise fast. This is where calculators and advanced charts shine. Don’t guess – check the numbers if real money is on the line.

Bankroll Management: Surviving the Royal Droughts

Royal flushes are high-variance events. You can play perfectly and still go tens of thousands of hands without one.

That’s why bankroll discipline matters.

• Only bet max coins if your bankroll supports it (royals usually require max bets)
• Expect  (long) dry spells
• Don’t chase losses by abandoning strategy

Players who tilt or downshift strategy mid-session are far less likely to still be seated when a royal finally arrives.

The Bottom Line

You can’t force a video royal flush. Anyone claiming otherwise is selling nonsense.

But you can hit them more often in real life by:

• Choosing full-pay games
• Playing optimal strategy
• Preserving royal draws
• Increasing hands played responsibly

That’s how experienced video poker players see more royals over time without pretending luck is something you can outsmart.

Choose the right games, the right pay tables, the right holds and may the draws be ever in your favor!

Royal Flush Video Poker FAQ

Title Image Credit: Habanero Pixel/Shutterstock