Reason #2 why the Wizard likes Bovada:

No-hassle practice games

Most online casinos spend more effort trying to separate you from your money than they do trying to give you a good experience. They have all kinds of popup windows, they usually make you download their software, and if they do offer play-in-browser games then you have to register an account before you can play. And if you register they start sending you emails trying to get you to deposit real money.

But Bovada is different. They have no popup windows at all, and their practice games play right in your browser, with no download, and no registration required. You don’t even have to give up your email address. It couldn’t be simpler: just one click and you’re playing the game.

I wish all online casinos showed this much respect for their players. Other casinos practically ask for your first born child to play for free. Meanwhile Bovada is patient and does not twist anybody’s arm to play for real money. You can play as long as you like for free with no obligation. The real-money games are available if that’s your preference, but if not, you can play the free practice games for as long as you like without hassle.

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Spin Poker-

Last Update: Oct 25, 2007

Rules

The game is played on a video screen. There are 15 positions in a matrix of 5 columns and 3 rows.
After making a bet the player will get five cards from a 52-card deck (except for decks that include jokers) on the middle row.
The player may keep and discard as he wishes, as in regular video poker.
Any cards the player holds will be replicated on the top and bottom row as well, in the same column.
After the player presses the "deal" button the empty squares will be filled in from the remaining 47 cards in the deck. No card in the will appear more than once in the draw.
The player will be paid according to the poker value of each active payline.

Odds

The odds and strategy are exactly the same as convention video poker for the same game and pay table.

Standard Deviation

The following table shows the standard deviation in 9/6 Jacks or Better, per hand on the draw in both spin poker and mutli-play video poker, based on a random simulation of 194,010,000 dealt hands.

Standard Deviation
Lines/Plays	Spin Poker	Multi-Play
1	4.42	4.42
2	4.64	4.63
3	4.82	4.84
4	5.4	5.04
5	5.90	5.23
6	6.25	5.42
7	6.55	5.60
8	6.89	5.77
9	7.28	5.94

For example, if playing 9-line Spin Poker at the $1 coinage ($5 per hand, or $45 total bet), the standard devation for each hand on the draw would be $5 × 7.28 = $36.40, and $25 × 9^0.5 × 13.18 = $109.20 for each hand on the deal. In 9-hand multi-play video poker the standard deviation per hand on the draw is $5 × 5.94 = $29.70, and per hand on the deal is $5 × 5.94 × 9^0.5 = $89.10.