Its Time for a Dealt Royal

[Lucky Larry]

I've tracked all of our Royals (25¢ or $1,000 on multi-hand, and big hits/handpays) on excel since Sweet C and I began playing VP in the fall of 2005. We had been playing slots until the fall of 2005 when I had a conversation with the Slot Director at Delta Downs who suggested I play VP instead. After a long conversation on the benefits, I bought software, read books, read the blogs and began to practice hours per week. I hit my first Royal on Nov. 18, 2005 on my third VP trip playing Aces and Faces at Delta Downs in Vinton, La. I'm not sure who was most excited for me, me, Sweet C or Scott the Slot Director. To say I was hooked was an understatement. Sweet C began playing shortly after. As I was entering our recent hits I realized neither one of us had a dealt Royal since 2016.

So I quickly reviewed our play. I’m not sure if we were exceedingly lucky in the past or we’re overdue on the odds for another dealt hand.
Year (Royals Hit/Dealt)
2005 - (1/0)
2007 - (10/1) Sweet C caught our first and only one for the year.
2008 – (28/2) We each were dealt one.
2009 – (14/1) Sweet C caught the only one.
2010 – (7/2) We both caught one-mine in April and hers in September.
2011 – (28/4) Was a really good year. January 1, I was dealt 5-hand Royal 25¢; another $5K Jan. 28 in Biloxi; again in Sept. and Sweet C in Dec.
2012 - (7/1) Sweet C was dealt a Diamond Royal on a 25¢ Progressive
2013 - (13/1) Sweet C again caught a dealt Royal on SuperAces
2014 - (25/1) I caught a dealt Royal on 25 hand 5¢ DWB on my birthday
2015 - (37/1) I caught a dealt Royal on 50 hands 5¢ DW for $10K
2016 - (12/1) Sweet C caught a 50 hand Royal on DWB
2017 - (3/0)
2018 - (21/0)
2019 - (24/0)

So we’re both feeling one of us is due a dealt Royal. Since 5 hands is the most Sweet C will play on 25¢ or greater I’m hoping I catch a dealt Royal on one of my 15-25 hand 25¢ plays. Heck! I’d gladly pay Uncle Sam his share on $15, 20 or $25K. I probably take a check for part of it.

With 21 last year and 24 this year so far, I’m feeling we’re due!!

I’ll leave it up to the mathematicians on the board to debate the odds.

[onemoretry]

Dare I mention that what's gone on before has no affect on the likelihood of being dealt a royal on your next hand?

[FAA]

But he’s Lucky Larry. Attention must be paid! Where is the justice?

[onemoretry]

Where is the justice?

We're talking video poker here - there is no justice.

[advantage playe]

my last dealt royal a year ago at foxwoods 4000 dollars ! I am a few cycles with no royal of any kind !! so 200 thousand hands or more I think ,of any kind dealt or otherwise . I think my new name is lucky phil ! but really I have been greatly blessed and my family by GOD !!! so no complaints !!!!!!!

[xfile1971]

I have had one dealt royal (50 cent 5 play at Golden Nugget Laughlin) in 26 years of fairly heavy video poker playing. It would be interesting to know what the mathematical odds are of only getting one dealt royal out of 10 million deals. The amount of money lost due to this is staggering because I have played multi-hand games for about 98% of those hands ever since the first triple play machines arrived. I am admittedly jealous of people who get dealt royals on a regular basis. Imagine getting only one in a quarter of a century...

[advantage playe]

I forgot the odds off the top of my head,i think its 600,000 to one or thereabouts. Bob dancer help us out here !

[olds442jetaway]

I think its around 693 k to one give or take. We can double ck on wizard of odds paytables. I am over due as well. About 3 million hands since getting one. Of course overdue by no means guarantees one ever again. Correction......1 in 649,740 hands. See now last tear or so I would have had that number memorized. Not fun losing 1 percent or so cognative ability per year now. They say though that video poker will ward off Dimmentia somewhat. That is one reason I always try and have some wacky system where I’m constantly doing math in my head as I play. Luckily, so far it doesn’t slow my play down just my wallet!

[Lucky Larry]

Dare I mention that what's gone on before has no affect on the likelihood of being dealt a royal on your next hand?

All in good fun and wishful thinking. It comes when it comes. I'm just getting more impatient in my old age.

So if it comes my next trip or two I'll make sure i post it with date/time stamp.

[BobDancer]

With a 52-card deck and normal rules (i.e. excluding PickAPair and certain others), the royal cycle is 1/650,000 approx.

Depending on the game and your strategy, the regular royal cycle is 1/40,000 - 1/50,000. That means, on average, approximately 1/13 to 1/16 is the ratio of dealt royals to non-dealt royals.

Clearly 1/24 is "worse than average," however the results reported in 2007, 2010, 2011. and 2012 you received far more dealt royals than average.

If you're begging for justice now, surely symmetry would suggest that you return the extra dealt royals from prior years. After all, true justice should be a two-way street. Or perhaps you just want mercy, instead of justice.

Attempted humor aside, with a cycle of 650,000 dealt hands, virtually nobody has the average number of dealt royals. Even if you postulate that some person actually did have the average number, that would only be true if he stopped playing forever. With one more hand, he no longer has the average number, and for the next 650,000 hands at least he will be not have the average number.

I've had approximately 30 in my career. Some small. Biggest two were $100,000. Eight or ten were $20,000 or greater. This year I've only hit one so far --- for $10,000. It took 10 minutes or so to be paid --- and I already felt I was overdue for the next one.

Not that those feelings have any mathematical weight at all.