Split Card is a video poker variant that is spread at a few Las Vegas casinos. Like many new video poker game these days, the bet must be doubled to participate in the bonus split card feature. The split card is a card that comes up about once for every ten dealt hands. It is two cards in one. Six-Card Open Draw Poker. Each player is dealt six cards. They discard up to four cards (face down) which are replaced. There is a round of betting. They then discard one more, face up, leaving a standard five card poker hand. There's a final round of betting after the face up discard.
beachbumbabsAdministrator
The 9♦ is higher than the 2♠, but it doesn't play, because only the best five-card poker hand counts. It is a split pot. The pot would also be split in the following example: Player 1 is holding 5♠ 4♥ and Player 2 has A♦ A♠ on a board of Q♣ J♥ 10♥ 9♣ 8♣. Both players have the identical straight. When to Split Pots. Pots get split in a variety of situations: When two or more players have the exact same five-card hand. Keep in mind that in Texas Hold'Em, it's possible that every player plays the board, meaning that everyone's best hand is made by the five community cards; in this case, every player would take an equal portion of the pot. Split Card Poker is available in the following base game versions: Bonus Poker Bonus Poker Deluxe Deuces Wild Deuces Wild Bonus Poker Double Bonus Poker Double Double Bonus Poker Jacks or Better Joker Poker Super Aces Bonus Poker Super Double Bonus Poker Triple Double Bonus Poker.
I'd love to see a screen of it if you get a chance. I will have to keep my eyes on the website to see when the game goes free for all members. I
That took all of 3 hands:
Note the full house on the bottom left; 3 4's, and 3 5's (including the double count on the 5S, which counted on several other FH's as the 3OAK part). Pretty interesting game, I think.
I'll play a bit more, see if I can dupe up a split pair as well.
Two hands later, another 1 rank off:
Just 'cuz I liked getting the 4AWAK:
Last pic, just cuz of the jackpot:
I've seen a couple dozen more dupes in about 400 hands, but in every case:
A split pair does not create a dupe.
The duped card, which only appears with a 1-off rank split, is in every case the front card.
So I conclude the back card is the base card and the only one that registers as 'used', whether paired or not.
A dupe card can appear on either the deal or the draw.
A duped card can complete any hand, up to a 5OAK (logically, if there's a duped card in a Royal, it wasn't needed).
Do you have the option of keeping or discarding the split card? Does it only appear on the deal, or can it be on the draw?
Administrator
Thanks for posting, Babs. I really like the concept but don't really care for the idea of having the same card in the final evaluation of the hand. Seems like it could be confusing.
Do you have the option of keeping or discarding the split card? Does it only appear on the deal, or can it be on the draw?
You have all the same options as draw poker. The split card can appear on either. I did not ever see a hand with more than 1 split card in it.
You have all the same options as draw poker. The split card can appear on either. I did not ever see a hand with more than 1 split card in it.
I'd love to see a screen of it if you get a chance. I will have to keep my eyes on the website to see when the game goes free for all members. I
That took all of 3 hands:
Note the full house on the bottom left; 3 4's, and 3 5's (including the double count on the 5S, which counted on several other FH's as the 3OAK part). Pretty interesting game, I think.
I'll play a bit more, see if I can dupe up a split pair as well.
Two hands later, another 1 rank off:
Just 'cuz I liked getting the 4AWAK:
Last pic, just cuz of the jackpot:
I've seen a couple dozen more dupes in about 400 hands, but in every case:
A split pair does not create a dupe.
The duped card, which only appears with a 1-off rank split, is in every case the front card.
So I conclude the back card is the base card and the only one that registers as 'used', whether paired or not.
A dupe card can appear on either the deal or the draw.
A duped card can complete any hand, up to a 5OAK (logically, if there's a duped card in a Royal, it wasn't needed).
Do you have the option of keeping or discarding the split card? Does it only appear on the deal, or can it be on the draw?
Administrator
Thanks for posting, Babs. I really like the concept but don't really care for the idea of having the same card in the final evaluation of the hand. Seems like it could be confusing.
Do you have the option of keeping or discarding the split card? Does it only appear on the deal, or can it be on the draw?
You have all the same options as draw poker. The split card can appear on either. I did not ever see a hand with more than 1 split card in it.
You have all the same options as draw poker. The split card can appear on either. I did not ever see a hand with more than 1 split card in it.
The rules explicitly forbid multiple split cards in one hand. I wonder if New Jersey will incorrectly approve this game with the vp.com help screen rules. It's not enough to be legal there, imo, unless I'm missing something. They require optimal strategy to be mathematically calculable from the paytable and rules.
The rules explicitly forbid multiple split cards in one hand. I wonder if New Jersey will incorrectly approve this game with the vp.com help screen rules. It's not enough to be legal there, imo, unless I'm missing something. They require optimal strategy to be mathematically calculable from the paytable and rules.
My thinking is different as I would like two or more split cards in the hand. The problem would be trying to figure out how to determine the hands. It makes it even more complicated when the same card can be in the hand. I know it's a relatively new game, but does anyone play with the correct strategy yet?
Administrator
Overall, I like the game. When I first heard of the concept I thought implementing it would be an issue. It seems like it is very well implemented into their game and for the most part doesn't really slow the game down.
I wonder if the reason they kept the creation of the split card at one card above, below, or a duplicate card purely based on the math. I personally would like the split card to be totally random cards and also not having the possibility of duplicating itself. I understand that it does help with increasing the probability of getting four of kinds, but I don't like the idea of using the exact same card to determine wins in the game. I'm partial to Fusion Poker where several cards that make up the fusion card are all different and each one is used separately in the evaluation of the final hands. Also, I like the option of the user creating the Fusion Card when it appears in the hand, but I'll save that conversation for another thread.
I would be a bit disappointed if I was dealt a duplicate split card and the remaining cards for a royal flush. I would feel like I should get paid for two royals.
In my short time of playing, if I was ever dealt a split card on the opening deal, I would always keep the split card and other cards that helped the split card. I don't recall ever throwing it away, even though I'm sure there are situations that would call for discarding it.
It was probably mentioned before, but approximately how often does the split card show up? In the time I played it seemed like it appeared a fair amount of time.
I wonder if IGT/Action Gaming utilized one of their newer patents for this game or if the game is derived from a '6 card poker patent.' I know there is a ton of prior art on 6 card poker and the feel of the game makes me think of a 6 card poker game.
A good game, but love to hear what others think about it.
BTW, the picture on the opening page of videopoker.com is my wife. She is in the orange shirt. It was interesting to see her there when I logged in to play the game today!
BTW, the picture on the opening page of videopoker.com is my wife. She is in the orange shirt. It was interesting to see her there when I logged in to play the game today!
Didn't realize she consented to do that? haha
Decided to play another round just now. Got my first quint, from dealt split quads.
Hold full house with split card?
Free Split Card Video Poker
Didn't realize she consented to do that? haha
Decided to play another round just now. Got my first quint, from dealt split quads.
Hold full house with split card?
We consented to allow the picture a number of years ago when we attended the videopoker.com meet and great. It just surprised me to see it when going there to play split card for the first time.
Nice win!
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Most video poker variants include a single special feature that distinguishes it from other games. This feature in Split Card Poker is that 2 cards can occupy a single spot on the screen. This (naturally) improves your probability of getting a good hand.
The 2 cards that occupy this individual spot are called 'Split Cards'. They're always suited, of the same rank, or of adjacent ranks. As with most of these variants, you activate this special feature by doubling the number of coins you're betting on each hand.
How to Play Split Card Poker
All video poker games share certain gameplay features, which are explained in detail on our main video poker page. They're almost all variants of 5 card draw. You place a bet of between 1 and 5 coins on your hand, then you're dealt 5 cards.
This is followed by the opportunity to discard between 0 and 5 cards. (In other words, you can keep or discard any combination of cards.) You're dealt replacements for the cards you've discarded, and then you get paid off based on a pay table which is organized by the standard ranking of poker hands.
One tip we share on every page we write doesn't change:
When you bet 5 coins on a hand, you trigger a higher payout on the royal flush. It pays off at 250 to 1 if you bet 1, 2, 3, or 4 coins, but it pays off at 800 to 1 if you bet 5 coins.
Split Card Poker is a multi-play video poker game. In these games, you're able to play multiple hands at once. The initial hand is the same on all lines, but the replacement cards are dealt independently for the additional lines. If you bet 1-5 coins, Split Card Poker machines play just like a standard game.
Betting 10 coins per line triggers the 'Split Card' functionality. Your wins are still paid off as if you'd bet 5 coins, though—the extra 5 coins just trigger the bonus feature. You don't get to choose which card becomes the Split Card, either—the computer does that for you. Here's how that works:
The computer chooses a card at random from your initial hand or from your hand after drawing. That becomes the Split Card. The 2nd card is in the same suit as the original card, and it's either the same rank or an adjacent rank.
Example
You're dealt 5 cards, and the queen of spades is chosen as the Split Card. The 2nd card in that position is also the queen of spades. But it could just as easily be the jack of spades of the king of spades. This increases the probability of a flush, a straight, or another high-paying hand. The probability of getting each of those variations is the same.
It's possible that you could wind up with a hand that would qualify for multiple rankings on the pay table. If that happens, you get paid for the highest of those hands. You don't get paid for each of them.
One of the other things that a lot of these newer video poker variants have in common is that they're really just older video poker games with a bonus feature added to them. These bonus features are optional and usually require you to pony up some extra coins in order to activate them. The original game that has the extra feature added to it is called 'the base game'.
Split Card Poker is available in the following base game versions:
Split Card Poker For Casinos
- Deuces Wild
- Double Double Bonus Poker
- Joker Poker
- Super Aces Bonus Poker
- Super Double Bonus Poker
- Triple Double Bonus Poker
The pay tables and returns for these games all work the same way until you factor in the Split Card. But since we don't have detailed, accurate information about how likely it is to get a Split Card on a hand, it's impossible to calculate how it affects the payback percentage.
You can visit the appropriate page for each base game to get the payback percentage for the various pay tables. Most video poker games have a 95% or higher payback percentage. The best games have a payback percentage of 98% or more. Of course, that assumes you're playing with perfect strategy.
We're sure there are strategy adjustments that need to be made to account for the Split Card option, but we're not entirely sure what they are or how to calculate them. Our usual go-to source for this kind of information is Michael Shackleford's site, and he does offer a detailed analysis of the game there. But he had no strategy advice to share there.
We can share some general strategy advice, though. It helps to have some card sense. If you know that there's a 1/47 chance of filling a draw, you can calculate the expected value of drawing to that hand versus standing on a pat hand that might not pay as well.
Example
You're dealt a hand with a pair of jacks. But it's also a 4 card draw to a royal flush. If you hang on to the jacks, you have a 100% chance of getting at least even money. You also have a 2/47 (or 1 in 23.5) of drawing to a 3 of a kind. You might also improve to some other hands, like 2 pairs, 4 of a kind, or a full house. The payouts for all of those are low compared to the payoff if you hit the royal flush. If you draw to it, you win 800 to 1. You'd rather have a 1 in 47 chance of getting an 800 credit win than you would a 100% chance of getting even money.
All of these strategy insights apply to Split Poker as well as to regular video poker.
Split Poker is one of the more interesting twists on regular video poker. It's just one wrinkle tacked onto one of the more traditional base games. It's also a game where the bonus feature's exact effect on the payback percentage is a little unclear.
It's probably worth trying for the novelty of it, but we doubt it's going to become a mainstay of your gambling hobby.
