DigiDeal Corp., a Spokane Valley-based developer of electronic gaming tables, has launched a new mobile game application that's a modified version of one of its digital table card games.

Called Pocket Pickit Poker, the app is available for download from the Apple iTunes App Store and the Google Play/Android Market, says DigiDeal spokeswoman Carolina Beck.

Beck says the mobile app is similar to DigiDeal's Pikit Poker digital table game, which is installed at casinos worldwide.

The mobile app currently is free to download, but Beck says an upgraded, advertisement-free version of the game will be available to purchase next week. Users will be able to purchase that version for $1, she says, adding that the new version will include some hidden features users can unlock as they play, among other updated features. In later versions, the company plans to allow game users to play other users in addition to the virtual dealer, Beck says.

So far, Beck says the Pocket Pickit Poker game has been downloaded just over 1,000 times. She says the company hasn't widely advertised the mobile app, but plans to increase its marketing of it when the first update is released next week.

She says the game uses a single 52-card deck. When the user places a main bet he or she, along with the virtual dealer, are each dealt a five-card hand. The player then reveals their first two cards by tapping the screen to select the cards of choice, and the dealer also reveals two random cards.

The player then has the option to double the main bet for the highest hand. All remaining dealer and player cards then are revealed and the highest hand wins the pot.

Beck says players start with $10,000 in the bank, and as that amount grows with the addition of winning bets, the player moves to higher levels and can bet more money per round as higher levels are reached.

Beck says DigiDeal's software engineers developed the Pocket Pickit Poker app in about two months.

DigiDeal is based at 5123 E. Third, in Spokane Valley, and was established here in 1998. The company is owned by its CEO Michael Kuhn and employs 35 people.

Other ongoing developments DigiDeal is working on include a new table-style game platform that will feature an automated virtual attendant. Beck says that platform is set to be released this fall and will feature a fully-automated, multiplayer game that's hosted by a 3-D virtual attendant who will interact with players during the game. The platform will be compatible with all of the company's digital table games, she says.

Beck says the company also is working on its second mobile game app, which is planned to be a slot-style game. A release date for that game hasn't yet been set.