Quick-Draw Poker - It's a good thing!

Let me be honest here. I am a terrible poker player. I don't keep track of statistics and you can CLEARLY tell when I think I have a good or bad hand. (The jumping up and down is what tips most people off.)

Well, I guess that makes me the kind of person you would want to play poker with, so you could take all of my Money. Jerk. :P

Anywho! The above reasons are why FREE video poker is perfect for me! It doesn't matter if I jump up and down with glee or not. No one is there to see me. ^_^ And since it's free, I won't lose a thing! So let me introduce you to my new friend, Quick-Draw Poker.

You can play Quick-Draw Poker on Gamesville, and I highly recommend it! It's easy to play and you can earn oodles of GV's from it!

And uh... in the interest of full disclosure, sometimes I have to open the pay table during the game so I can remember what things are worth. *^_^*

 I'd like a Royal Flush, pretty please!

If you've never played poker before, here is a quick explanation of the terms. If you're a video poker pro just skip on down to the Prize Stuff. ^_^

• Jacks or Better ~ A pair (two of the same cards) of either Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Aces
• Two Pair ~ Two pairs of ANY cards. Could be a pair of 7's and a pair of 3's. Doesn't matter.
• Three of a Kind ~ Three of the same card, like three 10's.
• Straight ~ Five cards in numerical order. For poker that order is: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace. Yes, the ace counts as a high or a low card.
• Flush ~ Five cards of the same suit. The four suits are: Diamonds(Red), Hearts(Red), Spades(Black), and Clubs(Black.) 
• Full House ~ Very simple. This is just a pair + three of a kind. Two 5's and three 9's would make a Full House.
• Four of a Kind ~ Four of the same card, like four Jacks.
• Straight Flush ~ As the name implies, this is a Straight and a Flush combined. The cards have to be in numerical order AND all be of the same suit. For example, if you had the 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 all in the hearts suit, that would be a Straight Flush.
• Royal Flush ~ If you have the 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of the same suit, that's a Royal Flush.

So, how do you play Quick-Draw Poker? Well, you start with five cards and you pick which ones you want to keep. The kept cards are copied into the "empty" hands. 

When you're ready to draw, hit the DEAL button near the bottom. (I cropped it out of the pic! Sorry!!) The computer will deal you cards for EACH HAND separately. It uses a different deck for each hand so you may end up with different scores for each one.

In this example I saved the Jacks and bet the max. I ended up with

4 Hands with just a pair of Jacks = 40 points
1 Full House = 60 points
1 Two pair = 20 points
1 Four of a Kind = 150 points

Total = 270 points!! Not bad for one round! But unless you're dealt a good hand to start with, you're more likely to end up with something like this:

It isn't a terrible return, but 5 out of 7 hands didn't win me anything. That isn't as fun. (I'm a little greedy.)

Of course, the best is when all 5 cards are awesome to begin with. ^_^

Hmmm.... What should I keep?

I didn't have enough time to get a 2nd screenshot of the results, but I kept the flush. The guaranteed 350 points (50 x 7) was too awesome to turn down. ^_^

Now, you may have noticed the little clock in the upper corner of the pics. This is indeed a timed game! You have 20 rounds to play, and each round lasts about 13 seconds. This is plenty of time to pick your cards unless you get distracted. Not that I ever get distracted...

*Chases a butterfly*

Anywho, you are also competing against everyone else in the room. The person with the TOP score gets double the GVs!! And while I'm not a great poker player, I did manage to hit 1st place once.

 Pics or it didn't happen!

Everyone is dealt the same starting cards. But what you each get after hitting DEAL will be different.

Now, what is my non-professional method? It's pretty simple. ^_^ I look for whatever will take the fewest cards to win. This is what I would keep:

1. Any pair - Need one more card to make it three of a kind!
2. Jack, Queen, King, or Ace - Only need one card to qualify for Jacks or better
3. A 4 card flush - If I'm dealt 4 clubs I'll give it a shot. Just need one card to make it a flush!
4. Double ended straight - This is what I call being dealt something like a 4, 5, 6, 7. Getting either a 3 or an 8 would turn it into a straight, so I have more options. I try to avoid attempting to get straight out of something like a 3, 4, 5, 7. For that to become a straight I *have* to get a 6, and my luck is rarely that good.

If I happen to get, oh, a 10, King, and Ace of hearts I may keep 'em and hope for a Royal Flush. No luck so far, but that's the fun of free poker. It doesn't hurt to gamble and lose. ^_^

Prize Stuff
Beyond the prize of GV's, there is a Progressive Jackpot for this game. The pot starts at $5 and maxes out at $100. Gamesville doesn't post the odds for winning their games, but from talking to the rooms (and looking at the dates for previous winners) it appears 1-2 people win the JP every day.

This is the benefit of playing games with smaller pots. More people get to win! ^_^

And though I haven't won anything yet, here is what it looks like if you win the JP for Quick-Draw Poker.

Cuz I have a golden tiiiiiiiiicket...

I don't know if you can get this on the redeal or not. When I win I'll let you know. ^_~

One nitpicky thing - Whenever you join a new game you'll need to change the bet to MAX immediately. It will remember your bet as long as you keep playing or keep the window open. When you leave just remember that you'll need to hit MAX the next time you play. Several times I've jumped into a game, been dealt an AWESOME hand, only to get pitiful tokens because I forgot to change my bet. :( Sad day.


Final Rating
The rounds are fast, the GV's are great, and I love winning multiple hands in one go. ^_^

5 stars!