How to Play Poker Pursuit
Poker Pursuit is a popular online table game played at Australian online casinos. The game is essentially a modified form of video poker but is played in Texas Hold’em style. It is simple to pick up and can be profitable when you use a proper strategy.
Today, we will teach you how to play Poker Pursuit and give you a simple strategy to win more at the game.
Rules of Poker Pursuit
Poker Pursuit is basically a table game version of Tens or Better Video Poker but dealt and bet like a Texas Hold’em hand. Before cards are dealt, you will place an initial bet. Most games we’ve found online have a minimum $1 bet.
Whatever you bet here will be the increments of your bet for the remainder of the hand. Note that you cannot fold in this game, so your ante bet will allow you to play the entire hand without making additional bets.
After you place your ante bet. Three cards will be dealt on the board similar to a flop in Texas Hold’em. At this point, you will decide whether or bet or pass. The game lists this as a raise, but it is actually just a bet. If you bet, a bet equaling your ante bet will be placed. If you pass, the turn card is dealt.
After the turn card is dealt, you once again decide whether to pass or bet. After you make your decision, the river card is dealt and hands are paid out according to the pay chart.
How Much Can You Win?
Like we mentioned earlier, this game is similar to tens or better video poker. The pay table for this game would make a very favorable video poker structure. Here’s the pay table for most standard Poker Pursuit games at online casinos in Australia:
- Royal Flush – 999 to 1
- Straight Flush – 199 to 1
- Four of a Kind – 49 to 1
- Full House – 11 to 1
- Flush – 8 to 1
- Straight – 5 to 1
- Three of a Kind – 3 to 1
- Two Pair – 2 to 1
- Pair of Tens or Better – 1 to 1
Note that this game pays off every bet made based on the paytable. If you ante $1, bet $1 on the flop, and $1 on the turn, each bet will pay off on a winning hand.
You may run across a version of Poker Pursuit offered by Microgaming. Their pay table is very similar except that payouts for everything above two pair are increased by one.
Basic Poker Pursuit Strategy
The biggest difference between Poker Pursuit and video poker is that you cannot exchange cards in Poker Pursuit. As such, this makes it a bit more difficult to catch a winning hand. It also means you need to play tighter when choosing to bet after the flop is dealt.
If you hit a paying hand on the flop, such as flopping a pair of jacks, you will be betting every street. That’s a no-brainer. You’re guaranteed a win. When you do not have a paying hand, click on pass to get your next card.
After the turn card is dealt, you will raise if your hand improves to a paying pair. Otherwise, the best play is to pass and hope you catch lucky on the river.
There are a couple of exceptions to this that you can choose to play at your discretion. For example, if you catch a non-paying pair on the flop or the turn, you can choose to go ahead and bet. However, you’re “betting on the come” as they say in poker, meaning that you’re betting in hopes of catching a winning hand.
At the turn, if you have four cards to a straight or a flush, you can consider putting in a bet. You have nine cards that can come to make a winning hand. If you have a flush or straight draw with a ten or higher in the hand, that will give you additional outs to hit a winning hand.
Poker Pursuit is available at online mobile casinos in Australia such as Johnny Kash Casino and Joka Room. It is a fun alternative to Video Poker and using proper strategy, you can reduce the house edge and give yourself the best chance of walking away a winner.