Stack 'em Poker

Introduction

Stack 'em Poker is a video poker variant I noticed at Harrah's Las Vegas on September 17, 2014. It plays like five-play video poker, with five hands stacked vertically. If the player makes an additional wager he will qualify for wins created by hands formed both horizontally and vertically.
 

Rules

1. Stack 'Em Poker can be played as conventional five-play video poker. The way the base game is presented is five horizontal hands, in a five by five matrix of cards.
2. For an extra 25 credits bet, the player can enable the Stack 'Em Feature.
3. In the Feature, the player will also qualify for winning hands formed by horizontal hands for any position in which the player discarded. For example, if the player discards three cards, then the player will qualify for any wins created by the replacements cards in the three columns filled with replacement cards.
4. As with all multi-play video poker games, each hand is dealt from a separate deck. Thus, the same card may appear more than once in the replacements cards as long as they are in separate horizontal hands.
5. The player will also qualify for multipliers on the vertical hands, according to the number of discards in the original hand. If zero or five cards are held, then no multipliers will be available. Details on the possible and average multipliers are shown in the following table. The "Average Multiple" column shows the average multiple to be applied to the win, after factoring in the probability of a multiplier and the average of such multipliers.
    

   Multiplier Rules

   Cards Held	Multiplier Probability	Possible Multipliers	Average Multiple
   5	0%	None	1.00
   4	100%	2x, 3x, 4x, 5x	3.00
   3	100%	2x, 3x, 4x	2.25
   2	50%	2x, 3x	1.75
   1	20%	2x, 3x	1.25
   0	0%	None	1.00

   
    
6. Some known pay tables are shown below.

 

Pay Tables

Following are some known pay tables. I'm sure that more exist.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Example

I bet the maximum 50 credits, for five credits for all ten lines (five vertical and five horizontal). You can see my hand on the deal in the bottom row.


I held the jack and king.


My only paying horizontal hand is a high pair on the bottom hand, for five credits.


I won a 3x multiplier, as seen on the left. I had two paying hands vertically. On the first hand from the left I had a three of a kind, which pays 4x the bet per line. Based on a five-credit bet per hand and the 3x multiplier, the win for that hand is 5×4×3=60.

On the fourth hand from the left I had a pair of sixes or better, which pays 1x the bet per line. Based on a five-credit bet per hand and the 3x multiplier, the win for that hand is 5×1×3=15.

Thus, the total vertical win was 5 credits and the total horizontal win was 60+17=75 credits, for a total win of 5+75=80 credits.
 

Rule screens

Double Double Bonus		Bonus Poker Deluxe		Bonus Poker
Double Bonus		Bonus Deuces		Deuces Wild
Jacks or Better		Rule screen 1		Rule screen 2

 

Video

I posted a video of myself played on YouTube.

Written by: Michael Shackleford