Added: June 4, 2015
If you want a more challenging version of video poker you should try a series of games live at Australian Microgaming online casinos that go by the generic name Level Up Poker. The specific variants include Jacks Or Better, Aces & Faces, Deuces Wild and Joker Poker. In Level Up Poker you have to play more conservatively at lower levels so that you get a chance to reach the higher levels that offer greater payouts.
In online Level Up video poker you play four hands one after another, but you place the wager for all four hands upfront. All the hands are dealt at the beginning, but the cards for each level are exposed only when you reach that level. Each level uses a separate full deck. After placing the bet you play the first hand in the usual manner using the normal payout table of the specific online video poker variant. If you draw any winning combination you accumulate the payout for that combination and move to the second level. If you lose the first hand then the game ends and you forfeit the entire bet.
You play the second level in a similar manner, with one big difference. If you draw a winning combination you will be paid at twice the rate given in the payout table. You will move to the third level. If you lose at the second level you will be entitled to collect the payouts won in the first level. Online Level Up Poker continues in this manner. Winning in the third level results in four times the normal payout and winning in the fourth level results in eight times the normal payout.
Level Up video poker has two useful features. The first is called the Free Ride Card. This is card is randomly dealt and is placed next to a hand. If you have this card at a level then you will move ahead even if you do not draw a winning hand at that level. Of course there will be no payouts for that level. The second feature is called Auto Complete. A natural royal flush awards a jackpot payout in all the aforementioned video poker variants. It may so happen that you have been dealt a natural royal flush at a higher level, but have failed to reach that level. In this event the Auto Complete feature awards you a compensatory payout.
