When you visit any online casino to play video poker; you find that there are so many different kinds of video poker game available to play and enjoy. These casino games are the very highest paying games offered; due to the long term expected payout percentages that their respective pay tables can return to players.
Among the different categories of video poker games; you will find that there are lots of different variants designed in a certain way; like when playing at Microgaming powered casino you will have the ability to play single hand video poker games; multi-hand video poker games and also some brand newly structured video poker games which you may never have played before.
Those new games are collectively known as level up video poker games; so you have the curiosity to know what does it mean by level up video poker games.
What is Level Up Video Poker?
Level-Up Video Poker is a type of online video poker game; in which you can play up to four consecutive hands of video poker for progressively higher payouts. Every time you win a hand; you “level up” to the next hand and the next higher level of video poker payouts. Playing Level-Up Video Poker is like entering a whole new dimension of video poker excitement and suspense.
How to play Level Up Video Poker?
You start your online Level Up Video Poker game by choosing your coin size and the number of coins. But remember that you are betting on four hands at once. So if you choose a coin size of 0.25 credits; and you pick 5 coins; it means you are betting 1.25 credits on each of the four hands, for a total bet of 5 credits.
Once you have placed your bet and are ready to play Level Up Video Poker for real; you click the Deal button. Four 5-card hands of cards will appear on your screen, but only the cards in Hand Number 1 are visible. The cards in the other three hands are turned face down.
You play your Level Up Video Poker hand just as you would play any standard video poker game. First, you click on the cards you want to hold, which places a “Held” banner on them. Then you click the Draw button to trade in your other cards for new cards.
Finally, you examine your final hand and compare it to the Payout Table to see if; and how much; you won. For example; if you are playing Jacks or Better Level-Up Poker; and you get a full house in Hand Number 1; you just look at the Payout Table to see that a full house pays 45 coins; so you win 45 coins.
Moving On Up in Level Up Video Poker
If you win Hand Number 1, the cards in Hand Number 2 will turn face up and you play that hand in the normal fashion: you click on the cards you want to hold, you click Draw, and you examine your final hand. But this time, if you win, your payout is double whatever the Payout Table says. So if you get a flush, and the payout table says a flush pays 30, you win 60 coins.
Then you move up to the next level and play Hand Number 3, in which all payouts are quadrupled. Finally, if you win Hand Number 3, you “level up” to Hand Number 4, where all payouts are multiplied by 8.
If the payout table says a Royal Flush pays 4,000 coins, then a Royal Flush at Level IV will pay 32,000 coins for a tremendous online video poker jackpot.
In short, each time you win a hand in a Level-Up Video Poker game, you move up a Level to play the next hand, where the payouts are increased by a higher multiplier value. If you lose a hand, the game is over, you keep whatever payouts you have won up to that point, and you can start a new game at Level 1.
Level-Up Special Features: Free Ride and Auto Complete
Free Ride is a special symbol that appears randomly during a Level-Up Video Poker game. When the Free Ride symbol appears, you are guaranteed a promotion up to the next level regardless of whether you win or lose at your current level. It allows you to stay in the game and compete for the next level of multiplied payouts even if you lose the hand and your game would otherwise be over. Also, a promotion to the next level means an opportunity to win big multiplied payouts.
AutoComplete is a generous compensation for any unrealized Royal Flush on the table. Suppose you have a Royal Flush face-down at Level 3. But you lose at Level 2, the game is over, and you never get to play Level 3. You might think that your Royal Flush is lost forever, but AutoComplete will know it’s there and pay you for it. It won’t pay the full amount that you would have won if you had played that level, but it will pay a substantial consolation. AutoComplete provides a way to win at video poker even if you lose.
Keep Or Double your Video Poker Winnings
Any time you win a hand in Level-Up Video Poker, you receive a payout that is yours to keep and cannot be taken away from you. If you win at Level 1 and then lose at Level 2, the game is over and you do not advance to Level 3 or 4, but you do not forfeit the payout you won at Level I. That payout is yours, you own it and you deserve it, and you may do with as you wish, which means you may choose to collect it or you can gamble and try to double it.
If you choose to collect your payout, it is simply deposited into your casino account. If you choose to double, you will be shown a dealer’s card face-up and four cards face-down. Pick any one of the face-down cards. If it is higher than the dealer’s card, your payout is doubled; if it is lower, you lose your payout.
Varieties of Level-Up Video Poker Games
There are five popular varieties of online Level-Up Video Poker games found at online casinos. These are Aces and Faces, Deuces Wild, Jacks or Better, Joker Poker, and Double Joker Poker. They all follow the general Level-Up Video Poker format described on this page, with four consecutive levels and increasing payout multipliers on each level. But each video poker game has its own particular video poker rules concerning wild cards, minimum winning hands, payout schedules, and the like. So you need to understand the game and the rules of each online Level-Up Video Poker game, play a few practice games of free video poker, and see which game you like the best.
Strategy to play Level-Up Video Poker
As you are aware that your aim in playing all online video poker games is to win a big payout. But in Level-Up Video Poker, you have the additional goal of moving up to the next level. So when you have this in mind you can alter your regular strategy and play a little more conservatively.
Like if you are playing standard Jacks Or Better video poker and you are holding a 3 of diamonds, 7 of diamonds, 9 of diamonds, King of diamonds, and King of hearts, you might want to trade in the King of hearts in hopes of drawing another diamond for the flush. But if you are playing Level-Up Jacks Or Better video poker, you would be more inclined to hold the pair of Kings: it’s not as good as a flush, but it’s a definite win that will move you up to the next level where payouts are multiplied by 2X, 4X, or 8X. Drawing for the flush and losing would set you back down to Level 1.
1. Increasing payout multiplier
When you have placed your initial bet then you will of course need to be dealt out a winning hand on the first stage of the game, if you lose on that initial hand all four of the stakes you placed are lost.
However, if that first hand in a winning one you receive the winning payout and you then get to play another hand, however, if that hand wins you are paid out with an x2 multiplier, if that hand loses you lose that stake and the two additional ones you place, the first one being a winning hand of course so those stakes have not been lost.
By you getting a winning hand on each of the four hands you will be playing off the multiplier value grows in value, the initial hand pays x1, the second hand pays x2, the third hand pays x4 and the fourth and final hand you may end up playing off is paid out with a large x8 multiplier in play!
2. Maximize your bankroll
This is another strategy that often players adopt when playing level-up video poker. Many online casinos offer a generous bonus when you initially sign up at casinos. Also keep in mind however that bonuses are a way of extending your gaming play and you will always be tied into play through requirements when using bonuses on any type of casino games, and as such if you would prefer to have the ability to cash out at any point in your gaming session then you should consider not taking any bonuses being offered to you as you can then cash out at any time you like.
Level-Up Video Poker adds a whole new level of excitement and suspense to your online video poker experience. Instead of seeing each video poker hand as an isolated entity that you might win or lose, Level-Up Video Poker enables you to see each hand as an integral part of a larger whole with an over-arching strategy of leveling up for higher and higher payouts.
