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VIDEO POKER
 Bob Dancer writes a video poker column for beginners to experts. He also writes a column each week with Jeffrey Compton titled Player's Edge, which features information on promotions at various Las Vegas Hotel. Player's Edge is published each Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Click here to send Bob Dancer an e-mail.
March 12, 2002
Dealt Royals in Pick'em Poker
I received an email from somebody asking whether dealt royals in Pick'em Poker happen as often as they do in Jacks or Better. The short answer is "no they don't," but there are some interesting things to consider.
First, Jacks or Better. In every "normal" game using a 52-card deck, dealt royals happen every 650,000 hands or so. This is true for Deuces Wild, Double Double Bonus, Super Aces Triple Bonus, whatever. Okay, I made the last one up. But dealt royals are not affected by any strategy or pay schedule. If they happen, they happen. The machine locks up and the music plays. Always a pleasant surprise.
Pick'em Poker is not a normal video poker game. There is nothing derogatory in that statement, it's just that the game has very different rules. You are dealt a pair of cards you must keep and then need to choose between two sets of 3-card flops, from which you get to see one card each. There is a draw, but it is a very restricted draw. In some respects, Pick'em has more in common with stud poker than draw poker.
You could say that Pick'em NEVER has a dealt royal, or equally true ALL Pick'em royals are dealt. If you are dealt, for example Ac Jc, which you must keep, and need to choose between three cards headed by either the Qc or the 5d, if the Kc and Tc are there underneath the QC, they are there from the start. In this particular case, the choice was a no-brainer. But that is not always the case, and the pay table matters.
Take the choice of Kd Qd / Td / Qs. Here holding the 3-card royal is better than the high pair. But take the similar looking Ac Qc / Jc / Qd, now holding the high pair is better --- if you are playing the right pay schedule. The important distinction is whether there is an ace in the 3-card royal. Playing for dollars, the high pair is worth $13.16 on average. An A-high 3-card royal is worth $12.40 and a K-high 3-card royal is worth $14.13.
The best pay schedule returns 6,000 coins for the royal (and 25 coins for the straight), and returns 99.95% when you play it correctly. The other pay schedule returns 10,000 coins for the royal (and 20 coins for the straight) and returns 97.20%. Quite a bit less. But if the royal returns 10,000 coins, then you prefer all 3-card royals, whether they include the ace or not, to a high pair.
In the best Pick'em game, royals happen about once in 350,000 hands. In the other Pick'em game, royals happen about once in 325,000 hands. Of course, if you misplay the A-high 3-card royal versus high pair hands in the best game, royals will also happen every 325,000 hands, but the overall return on the game will go down.
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