Two Ways Royal is a video poker variant that is popular at Playtech online casinos. It has been given this name because there are two ways in which a royal flush hand can be made. The Hi Royal Flush is the usual royal flush hand with suited 10, J, Q, K and A. The Lo Royal Flush is a hand with suited 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Two Ways Royal is based on Jacks or Better, but offers a slightly higher average return to the player than Jacks or Better and this article explains how.

But before that it is important to understand the two other factors that affect the average return to the player in general video poker variants. The first is that the player has to play using optimum strategy. This means he has to hold the correct cards in every deal. If he makes mistakes then he will not achieve the designated average return to the player. The strategy for Playtech Two Ways Royal is very similar to the Jacks or Better strategy. Players must keep in mind that what applies for Hi Royal Flush applies for Lo Royal Flush as well.

For all paylines, except Royal Flush, the payouts are same for any number of coins wagered. But for Royal Flush the payout is much higher if five coins are wagered. In Playtech Two Ways Royal the payout for the two royal flush hands is 250 to 1 for one to four coins and 800 to 1 for five coins. The subsequent discussion assumes that players will wager five coins.

Jacks or Better video poker variant offers an average return to the player of 99.5%. Playtech Two Ways Royal video poker has one more payline in the payout table. This is the Lo Royal Flush, which pays 800 to 1, the same as for the Hi Royal Flush. The probability of a Lo Royal Flush being dealt is 0.0023% and this leads to an increase in the average return to the player by 1.8%. If no other change were made the average return to the player would increase to 101.3% and the online casinos would be cleaned out in no time. Therefore in Playtech Two Ways Royal some compensatory changes are made in the payout table. The payout for the Full House is reduced from 9 to 1 to 6 to 1; the payout for the Flush is reduced from 6 to 1 to 5 to 1 and the payout for the Four of a Kind is increased from 25 to 1 to 40 to 1. The end result is that the average return to the player increases marginally to 99.8%. This may seem insignificant to the casual video poker player, but to the online casino player whose staple game is video poker this increase will make an appreciable difference in the long run.

The game play is described in brief. The players first select the coin denomination. Players are advised to wager with five coins by clicking the Bet Max button. The initial hand is then automatically dealt. Players select the cards they want to hold and then click on the Deal button to get the final hand. Two Ways Royal is offered at all Playtech online casinos such as Mansion Casino and Omni Casino.