Quite a few online slot games come with a gamble feature. After every payout the player has the option to activate this feature in the hope of enhancing the payout. The flip side is that he may lose the payout altogether if he is unlucky. Every video poker variant comes with a gamble feature. The feature varies across software providers. Players are also need to evolve a strategy for approaching the gamble feature. This article discusses the various formats of the gamble feature in online video poker variants and suggests a strategy.

The software providers Microgaming, Realtime Gaming and Rival Gaming offer a gamble feature that is identical. When players activate this feature they are dealt five cards. The first card is dealt face up and the remaining four cards are dealt face down. The player is asked to choose one of the face down cards. If that card is higher ranked than the face up card the payout is doubled, otherwise the payout is lost. In the gamble feature of all these software providers the player is constrained to stake the entire payout won in the video poker hand. However, the Playtech video poker gamble feature gives the player a choice. He can collect half the payout and wager the remaining half in the gamble feature, which is played out in the same manner. This allows players to take an additional chance without risking the loss of everything won in the main video poker game.

The software provider Cryptologic offers a gamble feature in its video poker variants that is similar to the one in online slots. The player can select a color from red and black. If the next card dealt matches the chosen color then the payout is doubled. Otherwise it is lost. Alternatively, the player can select one of the four suits. If he chooses correctly then he quadruples the payout, otherwise he loses it all.

There are a few facets of the online video poker gamble feature that players must understand. This feature is optional. The player can collect his payout without activating the gamble feature or participating in it. Whereas video poker variants have an average return of over 99%, the gamble feature offers an average return of 100%. There is no house edge. However, this is not reason enough to play the gamble feature. Players wagering on video poker variants at Playtech online casinos can play the gamble feature by staking half the payout. It is not worth risking the entire payout in a single hand video poker game. The gamble feature allows players to stake again the amount won in the gamble feature. This repeated use of the gamble feature is very much inadvisable. Those players who cannot resist the temptation are the ones for whom the gamble feature is most undesirable.

Players who are willing to take certain risk can consider the gamble feature while wagering on multi hand video poker variants. In multi hand video poker identical bets are placed for each hand. Some hands win while other hands lose. More often than not the total payout is less than the total amount wagered. The gamble feature can be employed to try to recover the wagered amount. As mentioned earlier, there is a risk attached to this. But if the player is lucky and recovers the wagered amount he should stop playing the gamble feature any further.