In one embodiment of a video poker machine in accordance with the present invention, a processor deals ten cards face up from a virtual card deck. The player then must discard three cards using buttons associated with each card or a touch screen. The processor randomly picks and displays five of the remaining seven cards. The award is based on the resulting five-card hand. This game concept can be expanded to allow for multiple hands and stud poker. The game concept may be applied to any number of initial cards, any number of cards to be discarded, and any number of cards to be randomly selected from the remaining cards.