This game is now available for the first time ever on the Internet. PokerJack is an entirely new game that is available only at IGW powered casinos!!

PokerJack is a combination of Blackjack and VIP Stud Poker with an optional progressive Jackpot. The concept of the game is to first play regular BlackJack, and then play Stud using the same cards. You can play both BlackJack, and Stud Poker at one time, or Blackjack by itself.

To start the game, you simply place a wager on one or both of the lower circular betting places. If you wish to play BlackJack and Studpoker, you must place wagers in both circles. If you only wish to play BlackJack, then you only need to place a wager in the leftmost betting circle. You can play both BlackJack, and VIP Stud Poker at one time, but you have the flexibility to wager a different amount on each.

Once you have decided to play PokerJack, and click deal, you will be dealt two cards just like in regular BlackJack. Once you either decide to, “stand” or your hand “busts,” additional cards are dealt to make up the Poker hand. For instance, if during the Blackjack portion of the game, you receive a 10 and a 9 and decide to, “stand” three more cards will be issued to create the Poker portion of the game. If you have a BlackJack game which uses more than five cards, only the first five will be used for your poker hand.

Please note: If player decides to split a Blackjack hand, the initial pair cannot be used for the Poker hand. In the case of a split, the resulting two blackjack hands will subsequently be used for two separate Poker sessions. This is part of the strategy involved with PokerJack. You must decide whether to go for the guaranteed winning Poker hand of a pair, or to split the pair in hopes of winning two BlackJack hands.

When playing PokerJack, you have the opportunity to win THREE TIMES. Once in BlackJack, once in VIP Stud Poker, and then again on that same Poker hand by playing the Progressive Jackpot.

The progressive jackpot is available at the beginning of every game. All that you have to do is place a chip of any denomination in the top center betting circle, and one dollar will be subtracted from that chip for every game that you play. (You must play the poker portion of PokerJack to be eligible for the jackpot.) The jackpot payout is based on the stud poker hand that you receive. If you match any of the progressive jackpot hands with your hand, you are a winner!

If you are unfamiliar with the rules of either BlackJack or Five-Card Stud, the complete rules are shown below.

The dealer gives each player two cards and himself one card up and one card down. The gambler plays against the dealer. The object of the game is to draw cards that add up to 21, or as close to 21 as possible without going over, but keeping in mind that the same cards will be used to make up the Poker portion of the game. Ten's, Jack's, Queen's, and King's count as 10; Aces count as either 1 or 11, as you choose. Other cards play at their face value. You are given a chance to draw additional cards, one at a time, to get closer to 21. If you "bust", (go over 21) the gambler loses. If the gambler's count is closer to 21 than the dealer's, the player wins. If it is under the dealer's, the gambler loses the Blackjack portion of the game but still can win on the Poker portion of the game including the jackpot. A tie is a standoff and results in a "push" (nobody wins). The casino has no choice on hitting or staying; it must hit when holding 16 or under and stay on 17 or over. After the gambler is done with his play, the dealer turns up his hidden card. If he has 16 or less, he must "hit," that is draw an additional card or cards, until he reaches 17 or over. If he "busts," the player wins. The dealer must play his hand in a specific way, with no choices allowed. HOWEVER, the dealer will hit a "soft" 17. This rule is identical except for what happens when the dealer has a soft total of 17. Hands such as (Ace, 6), (Ace, 5, Ace), and (Ace, 2, 4) are all examples of soft 17. The dealer hits these hands, and stands on soft 18 or higher, or hard 17 or higher. The basic premise of the game is that the gambler wants to have a hand value that is closer to 21 than that of the dealer, without going over 21 yet preparing himself for the upcoming Poker hand. The gambler's hand is strictly played out against the hand of the dealer.

In blackjack, the cards are valued as follows: An Ace can count as either 1 or 11, as demonstrated below. The cards from 2 through 9 are valued as indicated. The 10, Jack, Queen, and King are all valued at 10. The suits of the cards do not have any meaning in the game.

The value of a hand is simply the sum of the point counts of each card in the hand. For example, a hand containing (5,7,9) has the value of 21. The Ace can be counted as either 1 or 11. You need not specify which value the Ace has. It's assumed to always have the value that makes the best hand. An example will illustrate, suppose that you have the beginning hand (Ace, 6). This hand can be either 7 or 17. If you stop there, it will be 17. Let's assume that you draw another card to the hand and now have (Ace, 6, 3). Your total hand is now 20, counting the Ace as 11. Let's backtrack and assume that you had instead drawn a third card which was an 8. The hand is now (Ace, 6, 8) which totals 15. Notice that now the Ace must be counted as only 1 to avoid going over 21.

A hand that contains an Ace is called a "soft" total if the Ace can be counted as either 1 or 11 without the total going over 21. For example (Ace, 6) is a soft 17. The description stems from the fact that the player can always draw another card to a soft total with no danger of "busting" by going over 21. The hand (Ace,6,10) on the other hand is a "hard" 17, since now the Ace must be counted as only 1, again because counting it as 11 would make the hand go over 21.

A blackjack, or natural, is a total of 21 in your first two cards. A blackjack is therefore an Ace and any ten-valued card, with the additional requirement that these be your first two cards. If you split a pair of Aces for example, and then draw a ten-valued card on one of the Aces, this is not a blackjack, but rather a total of 21. The distinction is important, because a winning blackjack pays the player odds of 3 to 2. A bet of $10 wins $15 if the player makes a blackjack. A player blackjack beats any dealer total other than a dealer's blackjack, including a dealer's regular 21. If both a player and the dealer make blackjack, the hand is a tie or push.

The most common decision a player must make during the game is whether to draw another card to the hand ("hit"), or stop at the current total ("stand").

Double Down. Among the more profitable player options available is the choice to "double down". This can only be done with any two-card hand with a summation of 10 or 11, before another card has been drawn. Doubling down allows for doubling your bet and receiving one, and only one, additional card to the hand. A good example of a doubling opportunity is when you hold a total of 11, say a (6, 5) against a dealer's upcard of 5. In this case, you have a good chance of winning the hand by drawing one additional card, so you might as well increase your bet in this advantageous situation. Add an additional bet to the betting circle by clicking the Double Down icon. The dealer will deal one additional card to the hand. Players are allowed to double down for the amount of the original bet only.

Splitting. Players are able to split on a pair. Only one split is permitted. When you are dealt a matching pair of cards you have the ability to split the hand into two separate hands, and play them independently. Let's say you are dealt a pair of eights for a total of sixteen. Sixteen is the worst possible player hand, since it is unlikely to win as is, but is very likely to bust if you draw to it. The dealer will separate the two cards, and treat them as two independent hands. Let's say you draw a 3 on the first 8, for a total of 11. The player can chose to then double down on that hand total of 11 at this point. This is called "Double after Split". Regardless, you can play the first hand to completion, at which point the dealer will deal a second card to the second hand, and you can begin making play decisions on it.. When deciding whether or not to split, keep in mind that if the pair is a pair of sevens or better the player would win on the Poker portion of the game but would give up that opportunity should the player decide to split.

Insurance. If the dealer turns an up-card of an Ace, Insurance will be offered to the gambler. Insurance is a bet of half your original bet amount and is placed along side of your original bet. If the dealer does have Blackjack, your winning Insurance bet will be paid at odds of 2:1. You'll lose your original bet of course (unless you also have a Blackjack), so the net effect is that you break even (assuming you bet the full half bet for insurance.) This is why the bet is described as "insurance", since it seems to protect your original bet against a dealer blackjack. If the dealer does not have blackjack, you'll lose the insurance bet, and then will continue to play out the original bet.

Stud Poker is a poker game identical to standard Poker. First, the player places an initial bet called the Ante. This is the amount the player will risk to play the game. The ante must be placed before the BlackJack portion of the game is played. The player begins with the leftover hands remaining from the BlackJack portion of the game and will then be issued either 1, 2, or 3 additional cards to comprise the 5 card Poker hand. The player is paid according to the payout table below: