Australian players at Microgaming powered online casinos looking for some fast paced poker action should consider High Speed Poker. This is a three card poker variant available as a multi-hand game in the Microgaming Gold Series. You can play up to five hands against the same dealer hand. High Speed Poker is live at Australian online casinos like Casino Mate, Royal Vegas and Spin Palace.
You begin by placing the ante bet for all the hands that you want to play. You can also activate the optional bonus bet at this stage. Three cards are dealt face up in each of your hands. The bonus bet is decided on the basis of these cards. It is settled before you make your move and can pay out even if you fold or lose the hand. Three cards of the same colour pay 2 to 1. Three cards of the same suit pay 6 to 1. Three of a kind pays 27 to 1. In all other cases the bonus bet loses.
You have then to decide whether you want to fold or play on. If you fold then you will lose the ante bet and the game will end. If you want to continue then you will have to place a play equal to the ante bet. Then, the dealer’s cards are dealt and each player hand is independently compared with the dealer hand.
The process of comparison is as follows. The dealer qualifies with a hand ranked at queen or higher. If the dealer does not qualify the ante bet pays even money and the play bet pushes. If the dealer qualifies and the player has the higher ranked hand then both bets pay even money. If the dealer qualifies and the hands are tied then both bets push. If the dealer qualifies and the dealer has the higher ranked hand then both bets lose.
You will also be automatically entitled to an ante bonus on the following hands without any additional wager. Straight pays even money. Three of a kind pays 4 to 1. Straight flush pays 7 to 1. The ante bonus does not pay if the player folds, but will pay irrespective of the outcome of the main game. High Speed Poker includes an Auto Bet feature. If activated, the bet of the previous game will automatically be placed on the table. There is also a Quick Deal feature that speeds up the card dealing animation considerably.