Video Poker is a popular game that usually will be played in casinos around the globe, or alternatively at home on your PC, through a web connection. The rules are absolutely simple and consist of the player attempting to achieve the best mixture of cards achievable in order to win cash. In this respect it is very similar as a normal game of poker, apart from the line of contact with competing players. Of course, techniques used in a real-life game of poker, such as tricking, will be useless here.
The game of Video Poker begins when the gambler puts credits (either tokens, credit slips or cash) into the video poker machine and pushes the play button. A hand of 5 cards will then be "handed out" on the screen.
The Electronic Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ written on them, and players will need to now pick which cards to keep and which to discard. For the cards the gambler wishes to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they light up. The player can choose to keep any amount of cards they want, whether it’s all or none.
After the gambler has decided on which cards he would like to keep, the player will then press ‘deal’, which will mean that any new cards will be handed out if desired. The round is now completed, with the Video Poker machine scanning the hand to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands printed on the payout schedule.
Generally, the minimum winning hand on an Electronic Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money growing for each and every better hand. A common list of winning hands begins with jacks or better, moving on to two pairs, 3 of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, 4 of a kinds, straight flushes and finally royal flushes. It should be known that the payment schedule can range from machine to machine, so that experienced gamblers are agile enough to choose the most beneficial ones each time.
As soon as the first round has completed, the player can either choose to remain on and try to to maximize their winnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any money that they may have won. Additionally, a few styles of the game allow the bettor a chance to double their profits, in which case another game is played. There are also variations between individual games, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other varying characteristics to increase playability.