Kajot Poker
Although Kajot Games isn’t that well known, this Czech-based developer has been churning out a steady stream of slots, table and card games for the online and mobile-optimized casinos market for a number of years. Kajot Poker is their first video poker title and it’s got a simple, uncluttered design along with classic poker rules to bring players the chance of landing some big wins. Video poker games have been around since the technology first allowed it back in the 1970s, so Kajot Games may be a little late in getting a game to market. But we shall see if this game makes up for lost time.
It certainly looks good, well up to the standard of similar games from other developers. While there’s not an awful lot of extras that can be added to a video poker game, there are some nice design touches such as a soft blue background to contrast with the red-backed playing cards.
Each of these cards features the Kajot name across it. Once the cards are turned over, simple but effective Royal card pictures and clear number cards appear, which are easy to see on desktop PCs and mobile devices alike. The payout tables are surrounded by flashing lights, but apart from some tinkling music in the background and the soft sounds of cards being turned over, that’s about all we have – and to be honest, it’s all we really need.
Kajot Games has over two decades of experience in developing slots for the land-based casino industry, mostly focusing on their local Czech market. The team are now looking to expand their horizons, attracting new clients through their attendance at major events like ICE Totally Gaming. Additionally, through their recent slots games, along with roulette and now video poker examples, Kajot Games are spearheading their drive into new territories. So, let’s take a closer peek at their first video poker game and see if they’re heading in the right direction.
Feeling Flush?
Kajot Poker uses a standard 52-card pack with jokers, and there’s a virtual shuffle behind the scenes between each draw to ensure that the results are truly fair and random. If you haven’t played video poker before, the aim is to build a high-value hand of 5 cards over the course of 2 or 3 rounds, depending on the version being played.
Kajot Poker gives you 3 chances to build the hand from the 5 large cards shown across the game screen. A click on a generic ‘Spin’ button that’s used across the Kajot Games range of slots is all that’s needed to turn the cards over, giving you the option to hold or discard any number of them. There’s the further option to fold if it looks like no winning hand is possible, but let’s hope we don’t have to take that path too often.
Second and – if needed – third rounds are then played out to give the final hand. Prizes are then awarded for combinations of cards. Any Jacks or Better with at least 2 Jacks will pay out 1x the total stake. 2 pairs will award 2x the stake, while 3 of a kind will pay out 3x. Meanwhile, a Straight (all 5 cards in a continuous sequence) pays 6x, a Flush (all cards from the same suit) pays 8x, and a Full House (3 cards of the same value, 2 others of a different matching value) gives you 10x.
4 of a kind will pay 20x the stake, a Straight Flush (5 cards in sequence, with all of the same suit) awards 100x, and the Royal Flush (10, J, Q, K, A where not all are of the same suit) pays out 300x the stake. A 5 of a kind (a Royal Flush, all from the same suit) combo is the top hand, worth 500x the triggering bet. To make it a little easier to land these hands, the Joker card will be able to substitute for any other.
Taking a Punt on Poker
You can wager anything from just 0.10 to 100.00 on a round, or even try the game out via a free Kajot Poker version. Clearly you won’t win any cash in free play games, but it’s a way of getting used to how it works. Once you’ve tried a few hands, you can make real cash wagers with confidence.
Kajot Poker also comes with a few other options. These include an auto button that plays the rounds for you, as well as a very useful Auto Hold function that removes the potentially tricky decision-making about which cards to keep and which to discard. Unlike Kajot Games slots, there’s no fast mode here – but perhaps that’s a good thing, as seeing cards turning over and over at such speeds could give you a headache, or worse.
Learning Some New Skills
Video Poker is one of those rare casino games where a certain amount of skill can change the odds further in your favor. Players who have learned which cards to hold in any given situation can get better returns than novices. This is often exploited at poker sites where experienced players look for newcomers to the game and try to win as much off them as possible.
Fortunately, video poker is a single-player pastime, but the same basic rules of knowing when to hold, discard or fold still apply. The Kajot Poker game helps out by having the Auto Hold feature, and anyone who likes this game should try out a couple of other varieties of this exciting game. Jacks or Better is the classic video poker type, and Kajot Poker is a version of this popular game. But there are other variants out there that pay out in slightly different ways.
Power Grid Poker from Grand Vision Gaming sets the cards against an electrical grid background. If you get a Full House or better, you enter any of the 4 bonus features which include free games, bonuses and win multipliers. Deuces Wild is another popular take on the video poker game, where 2s are wild cards that can act as any other to help form winning hands. It adds to the frequency of wins, but the flip side of this is the fact that 2 pairs won’t be worth anything. Try out the Deuces Wild game from Microgaming to see how it all works.
A Perfect Poker Game?
While Kajot Poker doesn’t really bring anything new to the game, it’s still a well-designed version that comes with smooth animations. Plus, like all of the Kajot Games range, it’s fully certified for fair play and decent returns by independent testing labs. You can access it on mobile devices and when you play on an iPhone, iPad, Windows or Android device, the crisp quality of the graphics is just as good.
