A method of conducting a video poker game is disclosed. After a player makes a wager, a plurality of face-up cards are dealt from a deck into a card hand. If any of the face-up cards is a predefined special card, the game proceeds with a special feature that allows the player to draw a replacement card to replace the special card. The replacement card may be drawn from a plurality of possible face-up or face-down cards. The game may include a standard draw option that allows a player to select and replace none or more of the face-up cards. The special card may trigger the special feature at any time, whether it appears before or after the draw. The game determines a poker hand ranking of the final card hand and provides an award based on that ranking.