What Is A Royal Flush In A Poker Game?

Here it is: the big one. A Royal Flush is a five-card hand containing the 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of a single suit. It’s very rare, but if you have it, you’re usually guaranteed to win the pot, assuming you are able to get anyone to call.

How to Get a Royal Flush

Most poker games don’t start with five cards being dealt at once, which means most Royal Flushes start as draws: you’ll have two or three of the cards needed, and get the others dealt during a later round of betting.

Royal Flush Draws

A Royal Flush is a rare hand, which means you should never bet on getting one, even if you have four out of the five cards, chances are you won’t make the Royal Flush. But, four of the five cards to a Royal Flush is still a strong hand to bet on, since you can still hit a straight or a flush, or even a straight flush to the King. That said, pay attention to your opponents: if someone else has a made hand, and you’re chasing the Royal Flush, you might not want to invest too much on that draw.

Playing a Royal Flush

One of the tough things about a Royal Flush is that it’s almost too strong: chances are your opponent is going to be scared away by all those suited connectors on the board. So you want to consider how to best build the pot: should you slowplay the hand, with the hopes your opponent makes a play, or should you bet big so they think you’re bluffing? Either way, a Royal Flush is all about eliciting calls from players who won’t know what hit them.

Ranking Royal Flushes

In the rare instance two players hit a Royal Flush, they would split the pot.

About Five of a Kind

In games with wild cards, it’s possible to get Five of a Kind: a five-card hand containing five cards of the same rank. In many games, this is considered the best hand, and even beats the Royal Flush. Other times, Five of a Kind beats all Straight Flushes except the Royal Flush. Always know the rules of the game you’re playing.