What is a Royal Flush in Poker? (May 2024)

A royal flush is the best hand you can form in poker, and it is a true rarity in the game. Just to put it into perspective, a royal flush occurs once every 40,000 hands or so at casinos. This can easily shoot up to once every 200,000 hands, as the criteria are so specific.

What is a Royal Flush in Poker

A royal flush is the best straight flush you can form. It requires a 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace, all of the same suit. Because of the requirements, it is impossible for a round to produce two royal flushes. The only way you can draw is if the entire royal flush is in the communal cards. Then, the players in the round who have continued to the showdown collect the pot. However, it is a near-impossible scenario.

Royal Hand Probability

The theoretical odds of forming a royal flush are 649,739 to 1. There are only 4 combinations for this hand, and the probability is 0.000154%.

How to Maximise a Royal Flush Hand

A royal flush is not only useful because it is the strongest hand, but also because of its rarity. It is such a long shot that your opponents will virtually always assume that you are bluffing, or have a weaker card. This works tremendously in your favour if you have a royal flush. You can milk the betting rounds as far as possible, and it can be a potential game-ender.

Before carrying on, here are some useful terms to know in connection with the hand.

Draw to a Royal Flush

A draw is basically a build up, or a line of cards that do not form a royal flush, but are 1 or 2 cards away. A 3 card draw to a royal flush means you need 2 more cards to complete your hand. Likewise, a 4 card draw to a royal flush means you are 1 card away from the hand.

Open Ended Draw

An open ended draw means that you have a draw and only need the one (or two) cards on the top or bottom to finish the hand. For example, if you have a suited 10, Jack, Queen and King, then you have a 4 card open ended draw to a royal flush.

Inside Draw

This is when you have a draw that has a gap in it. For example, a suited 10, Queen, King and Ace requires the “inside” suited Jack to complete the royal flush.

Similar Hands (Royal Flush Backups)

Your main goal is a royal flush, but you need some backup plan in case the communal cards are not drawn in your favour. A straight and a flush have similar requirements.

Straight

Say you miss out because one of the cards in the royal flush is of another suit. That means you have a straight. A straight beats one pair, two pair and three of a kind. Though it is nowhere near a royal flush, you may still be able to pull off a win with this hand.

Flush

Should your hand contain cards of the same suit, but one or more of them break the sequence, then you are stuck with a flush. It beats both a straight and everything the straight ranks higher than. However, it ranks lower than four of a kind or a full house.

Straight Flush

In a bizarre circumstance, you may fall short of the royal flush simply because of the card rank. Say you have a 4 card draw with a suited 10-King and your last card is a suited 9. You do not have a royal flush, instead you have a straight flush. Fear not though, as this hand is the second most powerful hand in the game. The only way you can lose is if that suited 10-King were communal cards and another player has the Ace, making a royal flush.

Royal Flush Strategy

Every stage in the round is crucial when you are on a draw to a royal flush. Getting the hand early on will essentially seal the round for you. On a draw, there is a lot of nailbiting to get through.

Preflop

A two card draw in the hole is a helping start towards a royal flush. The best cards to start with are a suited Ace-King, King-Queen or Ace-Queen. If you do not make the royal flush, which the odds would suggest, these cards are high ranking enough to make an impact.

Flop

After the flop is dealt, you only stand a realistic chance of making a royal flush if you can form a 4 card draw. It is possible to also get a royal flush after having a 3 card draw at this stage, but then the turn and the river must bring the required 2 more cards. It is quite a massive gamble, but anything can happen.

Actually, you can also form a royal flush this early in the round, if the flop brought the exact 3 cards you needed. If that is the case, then you have basically won the round. But the work does not stop there. You have to concentrate your efforts to increase the pot as much as you can. Having a royal flush is such as rarity in itself that most players will give you the benefit of the doubt. After all, the chances of someone having a royal flush is small enough as it is, let alone getting one after the flop. Push your opponents as far as they are willing to go, but without giving too much away.

Turn

If you made the royal flush on the flop, then this is just a bonus round in which you can extend the funds in the pot. However, if you had a 4 card draw and the turn card completed your hand, then you can continue wreaking havoc and raising the pot. Should you still have a 4 card draw and have not formed a royal flush yet, then there is only one more opportunity.

River and Showdown

It cannot be stressed enough how rare a royal flush is, but for argument’s sake let’s say by the river you have formed your hand. This presumes that there are at least 3 suited cards and 3 cards with which players can form a straight. There are some players who may form those hands, and that is good news for you. As straights and flushes are still considered strong hands, your opponents will most probably raise the pot themselves. They are not counting on the long odds that you may have a royal flush, as most of the time you should not. Therefore, you can call their raises and raise even more. In the end, you should win a substantial amount.

But what if you do not have a royal flush but are stuck with either a straight or flush? You gambled on getting the best hand in the game but missed out narrowly and now are stuck with either the fifth or sixth strongest hand in the game. It is important to keep an eye on what your opponents are doing, as this can give an indication as to what cards they have. Luckily, there are clues. There needs to be at least one pair on the table for your opponent to have a hand such as four of a kind or a full house. Those will beat your hand. Or, they may simply have a higher ranking straight or flush than you.

Best Case Scenario

The best case scenario is if the royal flush is formed by your 2 hole cards and 3 communal cards. It is perfect because from an opponent’s view, the odds are too highly stacked against you. Should the communal cards provide 4 of the 5 cards required, it is far more possible to believe someone at the table has the fifth card.

Worst Case Scenario

The worst case scenario is when all 5 communal cards form a royal flush. It is so obscure that it will not feel real. And the outcome will be that the remaining players after the river will share the pot, regardless of what cards they have in the hole. It is basically a waste of a royal flush.

Conclusion

You do not necessarily need to have a royal flush to play like you might have one. It is virtually impossible to do the maths at the table. This makes it very difficult for someone to believe you may have one, but also it can throw players off their game too. One thing is for certain though. If you can form a royal flush, then your skills will be determined by how much money you can make off it.