Poker Persuit The Online Casino Video Poker Game
Homepage > Online Casino Articles
Poker Pursuit is an online card game very similar to video poker. Players are required to match their final five card hand against a pay table that pays out according to poker hand rankings. This is where the similarity with video poker ends. In video poker players are dealt all five cards upfront and then can replace a number of cards in order to increase their chances of winning. In Poker Pursuit players are dealt only three cards upfront. At that point they have to decide whether to ‘call’ or ‘raise’. If they call then they are dealt the fourth card without any addition to their wager. If they raise then an additional identical wager is placed before the fourth card is dealt. The same choice has to be exercised before the fifth card is dealt. Hence players could end up with three times the initial wager by the time they have received their complete hand.
Every time the player raises he will get a proportionately greater amount if he ends up with a winning combination, but will also lose a greater amount if he does not get a winning combination. The Poker Pursuit strategy has to resolve this dilemma. The player’s choice is simple when the first three cards dealt have a paying combination. Then no matter what, he must raise before the fourth card is dealt and, irrespective of the fourth card, he must raise before the fifth card is dealt. The question before the player is not whether he will win or lose, but how much he will win. And the greater the wager the more he will win. The winning combinations in the first three cards are tens or better and three of a kind.
The more difficult question is what the player should do when he does not have any of these combinations in the first three cards dealt. The recommended approach is to minimize losses rather than maximize gains. Hence the player should call and not raise. If the player does not get a winning combination then no additional amount is lost. If the player gets a winning combination then there is an opportunity loss, but an actual win. The conservative strategy is suggested after three cards are dealt because there are yet two cards to go and therefore the risk is higher.
The player again has to make a choice between call and raise after four cards are dealt. As in the earlier case the choice is to raise when the four cards already reveal a winning combination. The winning combinations that can be had with four cards are tens or better, two pairs, three of a kind and four of a kind. Even if none of these combinations are dealt the player should take a risk in certain conditions and raise the bet. This is based on the probability of his drawing a winning combination and the payout of that combination. The combinations on which the player should raise are four cards to a royal flush, four cards to a straight flush, four cards to a flush and outside straights. In all other events the player should call and settle for a lower payout should he eventually get a winning combination.
Poker Pursuit is offered by Microgaming and is available at all Microgaming online casinos. Poker Pursuit is not classified under video poker but under table games. |
| eCOGRA Certified Casinos 
