Chase the Royal

[clwn2]

I played this game briefly during my last trip to the casino.  I noticed that when the "Chase the Royal" feature came up during play it was at a cost of a paying hand. 
 
Just curious if anyone has any experience with this game and knows if there is any strategy associated with it.  It looked interesting but I would like to know what the cost is compared to a regular game without this feature.. 
 
Thanks... 

[EDC1977]

  Hey T, do you think they would install a machine that didn't carry a house advantage? I played a $20 down at Viejas just for the curiosity factor and figured out the odds against the player were too great unless you ABSOLUTELY felt lucky. I cashed out after $10 because I was sacrificing a lot of pairs/trips for the option to "chase the royal". I can't see any real advantage to a dealt 3RF or a setup 3RF versus a paying pair/trip. Good experience though. Learn by mistake.

[New2vp]

The following link goes to an article by Bob Dancer that originally appeared in Strictly Slots that gives a lot of info about Chase the Royal:  http://www.igtproducts.com/IGTproducts/ ... eroyal.htm    
 
The payoffs for flushes and straights are increased on the Chase the Royal option (to 12 and 10 per credit) as you can see when playing the game on videopoker.com.  The probability of getting a royal is about quadruple the probability in a conventional game.  But common sense tells you if you don't get the royal, you are likely to lose more than normal due to sacrificing all those draws to high pairs.  The article shows all the Expected Values for all the pay schedules, which are usually more than 1% higher than the EVs for the conventional games.
 
Dancer says that the strategy is to always take the Chase-the-Royal Option; although I believe that it is slightly better to hold the high pair instead of accepting AJT,AQT, or AKT when playing 9/5 Jacks or 7/5 Bonus Deluxe.  Other strategy plays are identical to the conventional games with the same pay schedules.

[clwn2]

Thanks for the info, I will check it out.......
 
BTW, I noticed that your screen name is New2vp but it sound like the opposite is the case?  I always like a good story if there is one that goes with the name..
 

[New2vp]

Your welcome and thanks for asking.
 
Well, I was new to videopoker at the time I signed up for a previous site though I am not new to math or statistics.  So, it was a name that I could remember and did describe me at one time not that long ago.  Also, I'm still very new to casino VP; there aren't any casinos within 100 miles of me and the close ones have lousy plays, which contributes to the fact that I have only played in casinos a half dozen or so times.  My lack of casino play was offset by studying WinPoker and Lenny Frome's Video Poker Strategy Pro a couple years ago plus the Internet let me investigate a lot of the other different games that are out there.
 
So why are you a clown?  Just to scare Eduardo?

[EDC1977]

  Yep! I think your conclusion is correct because clowns give him the Heebie Jeebies. Eduardo, I went to will call but they couldn't find that daggum RF you had left me. I must have them do an exploratory search on my next visit as Mr. RNG was a most ungracious host to me. Several quads but not enough to be in the positive. Factor in gasoline and FRB, it wasn't as bad as I thought. Relatively new or not, its pretty easy to see you're proficient with numbers like Shadow. Thanks for keeping us numerically challenged ones informed!

[shadowman]

Ed, I'm sorry that I picked up that royal instead. Well, not really sorry.

[clwn2]

Your welcome and thanks for asking.
 
So why are you a clown?  Just to scare Eduardo?
 
Thanks for verifying that for us.  I have some limited math background, just enough to know when someone is educated.  I have a rudimentary understanding of the math behind the game but when the discussions get specific with percentages and probabilities I get mind boggled for lack of a better term.   Make no mistake, I am fascinated with the posts, probably because I am fascinated with the game.   Too bad this was not around when I was in school, I might have paid more attention! 
 
The screen name clwn2 comes from a gambling buddy of mine.  He referred to himself as a clown so I, by default, became clown 2 or clwn2.  Needless to say we lived up to the nicknames due to our antics in the casinos in California and Vegas in the earlier days of my playing career.  We were both single hell raisers with disposable income to burn and casinos were the place to do it in.  Our favorite thing to do was stay up all night on our days off playing Vp.  In Vegas we would do the same thing for days at a time.  I could go on and on but I will spare the other members the experience..
 
Those were the good ole days.  My friend moved to Pittsburgh and I got married...Game Over   

[clwn2]

PS to New2vp,
I did go to the link in your first post on this subject.  It was a big help because I intend to give this one a whirl in the casino on my next trip.
I played it briefly last time.  I had never seen it before but have heard about it here.  I make it a habit not to research game strategy until I have seen it in a casino and intend to play it.  I also do not like to play a game with no strategy at hand.  In this case, the strategy is easy enough to adapt to since I play DDB close to perfect.  We have so many inferior schedules with this game in Cally that I get some of the minor difference in strategy wrong from time to time.
 
Anyway, thanks again.     

[EDC1977]

 Apology accepted Shadow! I'd rather it went to an acquaintance than some little old lady from Pasadena.  Ladies, don't give me grief because of my post unless you can't stand sarcasm. C2, did you play at Viejas like me or is it elsewhere?