Multi hand games were first introduced at online casinos in card based table games like blackjack and casino poker variants. The player can play a number of hands against the same dealer hand in these games. This allows for much faster game play. Today almost all online casinos offer multi hand video poker variants as well. There are two important differences between multi hand card games and multi hand video poker games. In multi hand card games players have to execute each hand independently in turn. In multi hand video poker, players have to take the decision for one hand only and the remaining hands follow the same pattern. In multi hand card games players can wager on up to five hands. Most multi hand video poker games allow players to wager up to 100 hands simultaneously.

There are two broad formats for multi hand video poker games at online casinos. Software providers like Microgaming and Playtech offer video poker games with different number of hands as separate titles. Players have to select the number of hands upfront and open the appropriate game. Microgaming’s multihand video poker games are called Power Poker. Software providers like Rival Gaming and Cryptologic allow players to select the number of hands from within the game, which is very convenient. The numbers of hands that are on offer in online video poker variants are 1, 4, 10, 25, 50 and 100.

Only the process of selection of the number of hands is different. The basic game play is the same for video poker games of all software providers. First players have to select the number of coins to be wagered and the coin denomination. On clicking the Deal button the initial hand of five cards is dealt. The player has to mark the cards that he wants to hold as in single hand video poker games. The cards that have been marked as hold are then transferred to the corresponding positions in all the hands. When the player clicks the Draw button, the remaining cards in the main hand are replaced and the remaining cards in the other hands are exposed in sequence. Each hand is independently compared with the payout table. The payouts for each hand are added and the total is credited to the player’s account. Most software providers include a voluntary double option in their online multi hand video poker games. The game play differs from software provider to software provider. The player can stake the payout won. If he wins then the staked amount is doubled. If he loses then he forfeits the staked amount.

Software providers have incorporated certain text and visual features to enable players keep track of the payouts in case they want to. Color coded texts appear across the hands to identify the hand ranking. A break up of the total payout, giving details of the number of hands for each paying hand ranking is also displayed on the screen. Speed options are available in most multi hand video poker variants. The fastest speed setting should be enabled. It helps in fulfilling the objective of playing maximum hands in a given time.