Split Card Poker & Magic Card Poker Games

iGaming News, Casino Reviews and Games

August 15, 2023

In the last article about new video poker games we talked about Ultimate X and Flip & Pay Video Poker machines. These are video poker variations that are nothing like the old classic video poker you might be used to if you haven't played video poker in a casino for a while. In this article we bring you two more variations that will not only give you your video poker fix, but let you have fun while doing it. If you haven't played these games, look for them next time your in the mood for some video poker.

Split Card Poker

Split Card Poker has been around since about August of 2015 and has to be one of the top new video poker variations when it comes to how often the games special feature comes up. Also known as feature or bonus frequency, the split card feature comes up about once every four hands. That's a very good percentage for having a bonus feature appear during play. When the split play feature activates, it splits one of your cards into two, creating six cards to make a five card poker hand. When a card splits, it can split three different ways. It can split into another card of the exact value and suit, it can split into one value lower in the same suit or it can split into one value higher in the same suit. So, as seen in the picture below, the first card in the main hand split into a Jack and Queen of clubs. The main hand and the other nine hands then had four clubs, including a possible Royal Flush. Unfortunately, the player didn't draw any Royal Flushes, but they did end up with a 130 credit win on a 100 credit play. The cost of the split feature is double the normal 5 coin play amount. So if playing a 5 play machine, it would cost you 25 (5 credits times 5 hands) credits for the regular game and then an additional 25 credits for the split feature. A 10 play machine would be 50 + 50 as shown in the picture.

Magic Deal Poker

You probably have not seen Magic Card Poker on the market yet because it just came out last month. Magic Card is a fun variation because if you get a Magic Card in your hand, you most likely are going to win something. If you are lucky enough to get two or three of them, it's time to start celebrating a soon to be a nice win. In Magic Card Poker, about once in every ten hands, one, two, or three of your dealt cards will be dealt with as “Magic Cards”. These cards have a purple back and say Magic Deal Poker on them. When this happens, you will hold any other card or cards in your hand that you want to and draw for new cards on the other(s). After the draw, your magic cards will change into the best possible cards to make your hand the best possible hand available. As shown below, the best-case scenario, when it comes to magic cards, came up. Three magic cards. Now if the player was dealt two other cards to a Royal Flush and held them, the three Magic Cards would automatically switch to the other three needed for the Royal and every hand would have been a Royal Flush. In this case, the player was dealt two cards that can't make a Royal Flush and the worst the player can do is get a Four of A Kind if he discards the two dealt cards, so the player, in this case, should discard both, Hoping Royal Flush cards come back in one or more of the hands. The cost of this feature is double the base game bet of five coins per hand, just like Split Card Poker above. You won't see the bonus feature in Magic Card as much as the 25% of the hands in Split Card, but when you do receive Magic Cards you are likely to win a nice sum when the hand in complete.

Using Casino Bonuses Online

For video poker, you can certainly master the game and if you learn the various games like jacks or better, for example, you can give yourself a positive expected value for signup bonuses and match bonuses. Last but not least, video poker tournaments are another way to gain an edge as your competition likely won't be using the optimal strategy at all and that should make you a consistent winner! Other Articles of Interest: