Fast Poker Rules & Odds of WInning

How to play Fast Poker online (even though you shouldn’t.)

New casino games are, well… nothing new. They come along all the time. Game inventors are constantly looking for the next big thing. Most games never even make it to the casino floor. Of those that do earn a trial run, most of them fail. Some new games skip the land-based option altogether, earning their stripes in the digital realm. Such is the potential fate of Fast Poker, a new online card game from SmartSoft Gaming.

How to Play Fast Poker Online

The first thing you need to know is that Fast Poker is a house-banked casino game, not a player-versus-player poker game. You won’t be competing against the dealer, either. In fact, Fast Poker is more like a video poker game, where players win for achieving a high enough hand rank. The difference is that you get to choose which cards to place in your hand, rather than being randomly dealt cards from the top of a shuffled deck.

Here’s what you need to know…

The game is dealt from a 20-card deck, consisting of four of each 10, J, Q, K and Ace. This set up increases the chances of being dealt high ranking hands – especially the highest paying a Royal Flush. All 20 cards are dealt face down at the top of the screen. The object of the game is to achieve a hand rank worth of a payout (see Fast Poker Pay Table below)

Fast Poker Rules & Game Play

The game begins when you choose a bet size (0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, or 20) and press the Play button.
From the 20 face down cards, you will select five cards to build you hand. Your chosen cards will turn face up and move to the bottom section of the screen, labeled Your Cards.
Once all five cards are selected, they will automatically settle in the highest ranking hand position. If the hand ranks high enough for a payout, you win the corresponding amount displayed on the pay table. If not, you lose your bet.

How to Win – Fast Poker Pay Table

There are only five winning hands in Fast Poker, with payouts ranging from 2x to 100x the bet. Winning hands, values, and the probability you’ll receive them, are as follows:

5-Card Hand Rank	Payout	Probability
Royal Flush	100:1	0.026%
4 of a Kind	20:1	0.516%
Full House	10:1	3.096%
Straight	3:1	6.579%
3 of a Kind	2:1	12.38%
Anything Else	Lose	77.40%
House Edge = 11.64%

The Good – The Bad – The Ugly

What’s good about this game is the overall entertainment value. I think allowing players to choose their own cards gives them a sense of control, increasing the overall enjoyment. It doesn’t change the odds in any way, mind you, but it does make players feel better. A happy player is a repeat player.

What’s bad about this game is the probability of actually winning. As you can see from the pay table above, odds are that 77.4% of your hands will be losers. That’s more than 3/4 of all games that will end in either a pair or two pair, both of which are losing hands. Only 12.6% will result in a 3 of a kind or anything better, worthy of a win.

Last but not least, the ugly part – the house edge of 11.64%. Players can only expect to win back 89.36% of their wagers. That’s as bad as most Las Vegas slot machines, and the reason we say you probably shouldn’t play Fast Poker online at all.