Maryland Hold'em is a New Fun Game from the Maryland Lottery

The Maryland Lottery is expanding their television style games that are played at local bars and restaurants. They now have one that will appeal to fans of poker. The game is a game of luck, but the poker game will draw players into the game that might not play otherwise. The first television game the Maryland Lottery had was Keno, they then in the past six months or so introduced their Racetrax game based on watching an animated horserace. Now the latest game is built on the popularity of poker sweeping the country in the past several years.

I drove by the sign several times at a local bar advertising "Play Maryland Hold'em Here, The New Maryland Lottery Game". I sort of dismissed it as a scratch off, but then visited the website and found out it was not a scratch off game. The website does not explain the game, so I had to go to the bar and find the instructions there. It is similar to the Keno and Racetrax games in that you fill out a betting card for each game you want to play.

The screen has eight animated players on it. Before you fill out your card to make your bet, you have five minutes in between hands where you see the hole cards for each of the players. Also displayed is the percentages that each of those hole card hands have of winning the game (payouts on bets are roughly based on these). You can then bet on the main game or make a side bet.

If you choose to bet on the main game, you choose an amount to bet on your entry card, as well as a player to bet on. You can bet on multiple players if you wish, but you have to bet the same amount on each player unless you submit multiple entry cards.

You can also bet on the type of hand that will win the game. The trick here is there are only four types you can bet on. They are straight flush, four of a kind, full house, and flush. Payout odds are not revealed prior to the deal of the game, so you are sort of taking a blind shot here based on all the pairs of hole cards you see. The one thing is if a higher ranking hand out of those four wins, and you bet on one that is lower, you still win your bet, but your payout is lower than if you had bet on the winning hand.