Play Online Video Poker In Multi Hand Format

• Published: October 9, 2014
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Today almost all online casinos offer multi hand video poker games. The numbers of hands usually available are 1, 4, 10, 25, 50 and 100, but not all online casinos offer this complete range. Multi hand online poker increases the speed of the game play and therefore these games are preferred by expert players or by those who are strapped for time. There are two broad ways of accessing multi hand video poker games. Microgaming and Playtech powered online casinos offer video poker games with different number of hands as separate titles. Online casinos powered by some other software providers allow you to choose the number of hands from within the game.

Having selected the number of hands, the basic mechanism is the same. You select the number of coins to be wagered and the coin size as usual. Remember that it is advantageous to opt for the maximum five coins to be in line for jackpot payouts. The bet amount will be multiplied by the number of hands and deducted from your balance. Five cards will first be dealt in the large playing area. You select the cards that you want to hold in the usual manner. These held cards are then transferred face up to the corresponding positions in all the hands. The remaining cards in the other hands remain hidden. When you click the Draw button two things happen. The remaining cards in the main hand are replaced and the face-down cards in the other hands are exposed. Finally each hand is independently compared with the payout table and the amounts won are credited to your account.

As in single hand online video poker variants there is a double option. This option is voluntary and allows you the opportunity to double the payout won at zero house edge. However if you guess wrong then you will lose the original payout. Multi hand online video poker variants employ a number of visual techniques to help you track the game. This is because with increasing number of hands the text size necessarily gets smaller and difficult to read. For example color codes are used to identify the hand ranking. A break up of the total payout is displayed on the screen, giving details of the number of hands for each hand ranking with the payouts. Many online casinos offer speed settings that allow the cards to be dealt and exposed at different speeds. In the fastest speed usually all dealing animations are dispensed with and actions take place instantaneously when buttons are clicked.