Microgaming Level Up Video Poker

Level Up Video Poker is a new format for video poker games released by Microgaming. The games offered under this format include Aces & Faces, Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild and Joker Poker. What makes this game exciting is that the payouts double with each hand won.

The player selects the coin denomination and number of coins. On this basis the amount for four hands is deducted from his balance. All four hands are dealt face down, each from a separate deck. Then the first hand is revealed. The player decides which cards to hold and clicks the "draw" button to complete the hand. If the player does not have a winning combination then he loses the entire bet. If he draws a winning combination he gets paid as per the payout table but the funds are kept on hold. The next level hand is revealed. The play proceeds as usual. If the player loses then he is entitled to the amount won thus far, but cannot play further. If he wins he received the payout at doubled rates. The game proceeds in this manner for four levels. The payout at the third level is multiplied by four and the payout at the fourth level is multiplied by eight. At the end of the game the player can collect his winnings or try to double it. If the player wants to double, then the game moves temporarily to another screen. One card is dealt face up and four are dealt face down. The player picks one of the four face down cards. If it is greater in rank than the face open card then the player’s winnings get doubled. If it is lower then the player loses everything. Ties result in a push.

Level Up Video Poker games have two features that spice up the play. One is the Free Ride card. This is randomly awarded at any level. If the card is awarded then the player will move to the next level even if the does not draw a winning hand. There will be no payouts for that level if there is no winning hand. Since all four hands are dealt at the beginning it is conceivable that one of the higher level hands has a royal flush. The royal flush has a jackpot payout of 4,000 to 1. By losing at a lower level the player misses out on this jackpot. The Auto Complete feature exposes all hands and if the player has drawn a royal flush in a higher level hand then he is given a compensatory payout of 100 to 1.