Betsoft is an online casino games supplier known for its video pokies with 3D graphics and imaginative themes. But it includes the complete range of online casino games in its portfolio. In the video poker category Betsoft offers a unique variant called Pyramid Video Poker. The best Betsoft licensee for Australian players is Casino Mate.
Jacks or Better is the most common online video poker variant and is therefore included in the Pyramid Video Poker series. The article will refer to the Jacks or Better variant. The initial five cards are not dealt in a horizontal row, but in the layout of a pyramid. You will play three different payout tables with the same set of cards. In the first one you play with all five cards using the usual poker hand rankings. The other two payout tables are for three card poker hands. One of these hands is created by the three cards in the left side of the pyramid and the other by the three cards in the right side. Thus the apex card is used in all three hands. You have to bet for all three hands, so your total bet will be in multiples of three coins.
The five cards payout table is the usual Jacks or Better one. Four cards and five cards winning combinations are not possible in the other two payout tables. The sequence of hand rankings in ascending order for these payout tables is as follows: jacks or better, flush, straight, three of a kind, straight flush and mini royal flush, which is A, K and Q of the same suit. Another challenge has been introduced by Betsoft in Pyramid Video Poker by giving different payouts for the three cards tables.
The highest payout for a wager of 15 coins is 4600 coins from a suited A, K, Q, J and 10 in this same sequence. The left three cards table pays 500 coins for a mini royal flush. The five cards table pays 4,000 coins as usual for a royal flush. The right three cards table pays 100 coins for a straight flush.
The other variants in Betsoft Pyramid Video Poker are Bonus Deluxe, Bonus Poker, Deuces Wild, Double Bonus, Double Jackpot and Joker Poker. Pyramid Poker is a refreshingly imaginative and innovative series of video poker games, but there is a problem. The average return to the player is not attractive. So play this game only in the demo mode.