Dear Mark, Let¹s say I am dealt four cards to
a royal in video poker. I discard one and hope for the card that will give me
a royal flush. My question is: is the card already behind the card I just discarded,
or dealt from the top of a deck? Dylan F.
O.K.,
we¹ve said it. Jurisdictional gaming regulations do vary, from place to place,
but most poker machines operate on a "serial" and not a "parallel"
basis. "Huh?" Dylan says aloud, while thinking "Whaaa"? On
the serial basis, cards are shuffled and dealt off the top of the virtual deck
just one after another as they come off the top. An example of the parallel basis,
on the other hand,
is where five cards are dealt face up, and five additional cards are then dealt
unseen underneath the initial, face-up five parallel to them, get it? So, Dylan,
if it¹s serial, which it probably is, that next card is determined at the
time of player interaction with (draw from) the top of a virtual deck, and not
at the time of the deal and card placement behind your five initial cards.
But
either way you get those cards, Dylan, by gaming regulations in all legit casinos,
they will be randomly drawn
