Royal Hold'em does not demand that you be a member of a Royal Family in order to excel in the game. The game has many features in common with limit Texas Hold'em, but what is not the same is really unique to this poker variant. The royal hold'em deck is comprised of 20 cards and includes only the high cards of ten, jack, queen, king and ace (high) which makes it a kingly game indeed. Because of the truncated deck a maximum of only six players will make up a game.

The Play

Royal Hold'em is in the form of standard limit where two hole cards are dealt to each player whose objective is to create the best hand with five community cards. The hands are counted as in other poker types but there are no flushes other than the Royal one and your everyday pairs count for nothing. So, a Royal flush, four of a kind, full house, straights and two pairs are what the players draw to to assemble the most powerful hand.

The Zenith of Royal Hold'em Strategy

Since there are no low cards in the game, high hands rule supreme, making for very high quality total hands. The selection of only valuable cards is paramount to successful competition. At the very least to remain in the game, a player should be holding an ace-jack which is still a dubious affair. The optimum hand is thought to be by most players a pair of aces and ace-king is no slouch either. The ace-queen and pair of jacks can be a weak offering depending on one's position.

More on position: the high value of the hands sharpens the significance of position as you can presume that any player who is raising holds a pair of kings or aces and you can zero in on the hands of any player who has yet to fold. Should a player have an iffy hand, besides having the good position, he could also remain in the game with a small blind absent a raise in advance. Everyone and his brother is probably holding pocket pairs so the odds of hitting a three of a kind are better than one in three hands considering the cards held in the hand. If one of your opponents is coming out strong with his bets and you are in possession of a pair of aces, you should be pretty certain that this player is also holding aces or at least a pair of kings. With this in mind you can pinpoint the kinds of hands that the strong bettor has on him.

Every player is seeking a draw of three of a kind or more so you might think of the deck as having 15 cards that you are all drawing from, e.g. 20 card deck minus two hole cards plus three community cards. Hands of power should always be played forcefully and the pot odds should be calculated before proceeding on with your betting. If your opponent(s) is also coming on strong on the turn, you should be thinking that they have three of a kind or higher. As a sample hand - you are holding two kings, the flop shows an unsuited king-jack-ten. Your hand is in second place as the ace-queen trumps yours. There is a good possibility that your opponent has ace-king or jack-jack so you must concern yourself with the number of outs to a full house or the odds that your opponent is in possession of a straight depending on his position or betting structure.