Are you a die-hard poker player who’s determined to elevate your game? Are you a beginner just starting out? Or are you the recreational type, just playing a game here and there, every now and then? Whatever type of player you are, whether you dabble in online poker or prefer gaming at land-based casinos, chances are that you’re always looking out for that elusive hand, the unicorn of all hands: poker’s royal flush. So, what is the chance of flopping a royal flush?

Defining a Royal Flush

In order of increasing potency and decreasing odds of landing it, these are the possible winning hands in poker: high card, pair, two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four-of-a-kind, straight flush, and royal flush.

A high card is in every poker game, which makes it the most common hand. Since you’re competing against another player, your odds of flopping a high card would be 50:50 (or a probability of 50.1177%). At these odds, a high card isn’t a very strong hand. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum of all the different possible hands in poker (2,598,960 to be exact) is the royal flush. The five cards that make up this hand are the top five cards (and only the top five cards) of any given suit. These are the ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of each suit — diamonds, clubs, hearts, and spades. The odds of flopping a royal flush plummet to a probability of 0.000154% (or a chance of 1:649,740). 

What Are the Odds of a Royal Flush?

The game of poker can make anyone’s head spin with all of the variables to consider over the course of a hand. You should think about the pot size, position, types of players at the table, pot odds, and possibly implied odds, ICM strategy, GTO implications, and how these variables affect each other. One of your considerations that should become second nature is outs; how many outs do you have to make a winning hand? The other consideration when assessing hand strength, such as full house vs flush, is odds.

Outs is the list of possible cards that could beat an opponent. Odds, on the other hand, are the chance of making a specific hand within the context of all possible hands. This is where math comes in, and it requires some memorization, at least regarding the estimated odds. 

For a royal flush, there are very few outs, as the cards needed are specifically in the suit of your current cards, and the only cards that can be used to make a royal flush are the ace, king, queen, jack, and ten. The odds involve a detailed percentage, one with quite a few zeros that indicate the rarity of actually making the royal flush in poker.

Royal Flush Odds: Flop vs. Turn vs. River

In Texas Hold’em, you’ll start every hand with two hole cards. If those cards are any of the five values that are in a royal flush, and those cards are of the same suit, there’s a chance to make a royal flush over the course of the flop, turn, and river. 

Of course, the best odds are to make a royal flush by the turn or river, which is 0.00323% of the time. In even more complicated numbers, the royal flush probability is one in every 30,940 hands. 

Even rarer than finding a royal flush on the turn or river of a five-card poker hand is the experience of landing a royal flush on the flop. This means that you hold two cards of a royal flush and flop the other three. 

The royal flush flop odds are extremely low. This makes this play extremely difficult, as obtaining the exact three cards you need on the three-card flop is against most odds. That is why the actual percentage in poker for royal flush odds is 0.000154%, which translates into a one-in-649,740 chance. 

These extreme odds of getting a royal flush in poker make the royal flush the highest-ranked and rarest hand.

Of all the poker hands in all the world, the exact five cards needed to make a royal flush are difficult to hit on the flop (third street), turn (fourth street), or river in poker (fifth street). But it happens at card tables all over the world, as every player has the exact same chance – albeit a remote one – of the odds of flopping a royal flush in poker appearing in your favor. 

How To Play a Potential Royal Flush

Whether you play Texas Hold’em poker online or you prefer games at a land-based casino to better read the game and your opponents through physical poker tells, there are some strategies you can apply to maximize your chances of making the most of your royal flush.

Here are three simple tips that apply to almost every winning hand you play.

Build the Pot Slowly

You should build the pot slowly, so as not to give away the strength of your hand. Scaring other players off with pot-sized raises and all-ins will leave you with a monster hand and very little pot to show for it. You have the nuts. Go slow to make the most out of your pot odds.

Know When To Fold

If you have the royal flush, you never fold. However, if you are drawing to that royal and don’t get there, you should know when to bail. It can be exciting to be dealt A-K of the same suit. It’s the start of a royal flush, after all. But when your hole cards completely miss the flop in a poker game, you may need to consider folding when the betting gets underway. Check out the guide on when to fold in Texas Hold’em.

Adjust Your Postflop Strategy

It’s a good idea to be open to adjusting your postflop poker strategy. The community cards are everyone’s cards, so other players will be aware of a potential royal flush while also drawing to a strong hand. Always keep in mind the type of player you’re up against as well as your outs, and adjust accordingly.

What To Do When You Hit a Royal Flush

The most important way to play a royal flush is to be cool about it. In live poker, don’t show any tells or give any outward sign that you’ve made the nuts in a poker game. This is important in all stages of betting in order to make the most money from your treasure. Even online, keep your bet sizes and action time the same as before you hit the royal so as to avoid giving away any information online.

At the same time, remember that most players won’t believe that you hit a royal flush. With the aforementioned long odds of doing so, most of your opponents will doubt that you made the best hand in poker. Capitalize on that doubt when you can, but be careful not to overdo your confidence and scare them out of the pot too early. But remember not to fall into this trap by taking advantage of tips for playing against flushes.

Play Poker Online at BetMGM

The times when you could only play a couple of hands of poker a week are over. Online poker has changed the game, allowing you to play hundreds or thousands of hands in a single day. More hands translate to more chances of hitting a royal flush. You can now play poker online almost anywhere at any time, including the ever-popular online Texas Hold’em at a trusted site like BetMGM Poker, which offers an exciting online poker welcome bonus. Play poker with real money at BetMGM and start chipping away at those 649,740 hands right away.