The common video poker variants like Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild and Joker Poker are available at all online casinos. But each games supplier has some unique video poker variants as well. One of these is Two Ways Royal that is available at Playtech online casinos like Omni Casino and Mansion Casino. It is very similar to Jacks or Better video poker, but it gives a slightly higher average return. The game is so named because there are two ways in which a royal flush hand can be made. The Hi Royal Flush is the usual hand with suited cards from 10 to A. The Lo Royal Flush hand has suited cards from 2 to 6.
Online casino players who wager regularly on Jacks or Better would be aware of the optimum strategy required to maximise average returns. You need to apply the same strategy for Two Ways Royal. The decisions that are to be made for Hi Royal Flush, also apply for Lo Royal Flush. For example, in Jacks or Better if you hold four cards to a royal flush then you discard the fifth card even if it contributes to a paying combination. In Two Ways Royal if you hold four cards to a Hi Royal Flush or to a Lo Royal Flush then you discard the fifth card.
In all online video poker games you should play with five coins are wagered and the following analysis assumes this. In Jacks or Better the royal flush pays 800 to 1. A suited hand from 2 to 6 will pay as a straight flush. In Two Ways Royal both these hands pay 800 to 1. Because of this the average return to the player in Two Ways Royal increases by 1.8%. If this was not compensated for, the average return would go over 100% and make Two Ways Royal unviable for online casino operators. Therefore some payouts are changed. The payout for full house is reduced from 9 to 1 to 6 to 1; the payout for flush is reduced from 6 to 1 to 5 to 1 and the payout for four of a kind is increased from 25 to 1 to 40 to 1. The net effect of these three changes is to reduce the average return by 1.5%. Jack or Better has an average return of 99.5% and Two Ways Royal has an average return of 99.8%.