Video Poker is a favored game that can be bet on in casinos all over the globe, or alternatively at your house on your computer, using a web connection. The rules are absolutely straightforward and involve the player trying to achieve the best mixture of cards possible in order to win cash. In this respect it’s much the same as a classic game of poker, without the involvement with any other players. Of course, methods employed during a physical game of poker, such as bluffing, will be irrelevant in Video Poker.
The game of Video Poker starts when the bettor inserts credits (either tokens, tickets or cash) into the machine and pushes the deal button. A five card hand will be "handed out" on the screen.
The Video Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ printed on them, and gamblers should now decide which cards to hold and which to throw away. For the cards the player would like to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can choose to keep any number of cards they want, whether it is all or none.
After the player has decided on which cards she would like to keep, the player will then press ‘draw’, which will mean that any fresh cards will be needed they will be dealt. The game is now finished, with the Electronic Poker machine analyzing the hand to see if it matches any of the winning hands listed in the pay out schedule.
Typically, the lowest winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money growing for each better hand. A list of common winning hands starts with jacks or better, moving on to 2 pairs, three of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kinds, straight flushes and last but not least royal flushes. It is obvious that the payment schedule can change from machine to machine, so that skillful bettors are able to select the most money-making ones every instance.
As soon as the initial round has finished, the player can either choose to stay on in an attempt to increase their earnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any money that has been won. Further, some styles of the game give the gambler a chance to double their wins, in which instance another hand is played. There are also variations between individual machines, with some virtual decks having wild cards and other differing elements to enhance playability.