I've been reading some old articles and I came across something that confused me. The question was "what are the odds of hitting a Royal Flush?" and the answer was that the odds vary from game-to-game. The listed odds were:

40,000-1 in JOB or BP
45,000-1 in DW
48,000-1 i DB

Why would these be different? I don't understand why the odds of a Royal wouldn't be the same if they're all starting with the same 52 card deck. What am I missing here?

Mike,

Perhaps the key lies in the different strategy used in a different game. For instance In DB you are trying for quads more often than in JOB. Obversly you are trying for royals in JOB more often than in DB. Consequently the payoff in DB consists of more quads and the payoff in JOB in more royals. In the analyze mode of Winpoker click on the game tab and you are able to view, in rapid succession, the payout percentages of various winners in each of the games.

Bob

[This message has been edited by vpbob (edited 20 February 2001).]

Mike,

BTW the odds of being dealt a royal should be the same in any non joker game.

Bob

Mike ---

As "vpbob" indicated, the Royal odds are different because of the different strategies of the various games.
Bob mentioned the quads in DB, but in addition to that, more 3 card flushes are held in DB, like 5H 9H QH, or even 5H JH QH. In JOB and BP, you would only keep the "high" cards.
In DW, there are MANY times you only keep a single deuce, which you would throw away in JOB or BP.
All of these optional choices lessen the standard possibilities of drawing to that Royal.

Hope this helps ....... Buddha

If you ask me, the key to this is which machine I'm playing. For the machine I'm playing the odds of hitting a royal are more like 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000:1
The machine directly to either side of mine though have MUCH better odds. Something more like a royal every half hour or so.

I can't even hit a royal while I'm practicing at home. <s>

Thanks, guys! That definitely makes sense!

Mike,

You're welcome. But I'm not so sure it makes sense. Sometimes I feel that Doug's odds listed above are more in keeping with real life. Although I have been luckier over the years than the odds indicate. I have gotten a royal on about 75% of the trips. Considering I play between 30 and 60 hours per trip I should be running at a 50% rate. It takes 80 to 100 hours to play 45,000 hands. So I have no complaints except I want more. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]: