Players at Canadian online casinos who want to try out an innovative format of video poker can wager on the Level Up Video Poker variants by Microgaming. In normal multi hand video poker games players wager on a number of hands at the same time, which are independently evaluated for payouts. In Level Up Video Poker players can wager on four hands, but the hands are not played simultaneously. They form different levels and can be played only one at a time. Players move to the higher level only if they draw a winning combination in the lower level.
Like in normal video poker variants players choose the coin denomination and the number of coins to be wagered first. But they have to pay for four hands up front. One fourth of the total bet is taken as the stake for each level. When the player activates the game the first hand is dealt. It is played out in the normal manner by selecting the cards that are to be held and replacing the remaining cards. If the player does not draw a winning combination in this first level then he forfeits the amount wagered for the higher levels as well without even playing. If he draws a winning combination he receives payouts as per the payout table. Simultaneously the second level hand is exposed. He again plays this hand in the usual manner. If he loses at this higher level, then the game is over but the player is paid the amount won till then. If he draws a winning combination at the second level the player is paid twice the amount given in the payout table. The third level is played similarly. However payouts in the third level are four times the amounts mentioned in the payout table. In the fourth level the payouts are eight times the amount mentioned in the payout table. The game ends after the fourth level, whether the player wins or loses. Each level uses a separate full deck of cards. The cards for all the levels are dealt in the beginning but exposed as the player reaches the level.
Microgaming Level Up Video Poker has three features that increase the player’s chances of receiving payouts. The first feature is the Free Ride Card. This card may be randomly dealt at any level and is displayed next to the hand. If the Free Ride Card is dealt at a level then the player will progress to the next level even if he does not draw a winning hand. The second feature in Microgaming Level Up Video Poker is the Auto Complete. A natural royal flush has a jackpot payout. Sometimes a player will be dealt a natural royal flush at a higher level but may fail to reach that level and thus miss out on the jackpot payout. In this event the Auto Complete feature offers a compensatory payout. The third feature is Double or Collect. After every game in which the player receives the payout, he can stake that payout in an optional double or nothing game. If he wins the game then the payout is doubled, otherwise it is lost. The player need not activate this game, but can collect his original payout.
