Video Poker is a beloved game that is able to be enjoyed in casinos all over the world, or in your house on your computer, using an Internet account. The rules are very simple and involve the player trying to achieve the best combination of cards achievable in order to acquire cash. On this account it’s much the same as a regular game of poker, without the interaction with other players. Of course, techniques employed during a real-life game of poker, like bluffing, will be useless in Video Poker.
The game of Video Poker begins when the gambler puts credits (whether it is tokens, tickets or money) into the video poker machine and presses the deal button. A 5 card hand will then be "distributed" on the screen.
The Video Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ written on them, and gamblers will need to now choose which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the gambler would like to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they light up. The player can decide to keep any number of cards they wish, from all to none.
After the player has decided on which cards he would like to keep, the player will then press ‘draw’, at which point any fresh cards are needed they will be given out. The hand is now completed, with the Video Poker machine analyzing the hand to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands listed in the payout schedule.
Generally, the minimum winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money increasing for each better hand. A list of common winning hands starts with jacks or better, and moves on to two pairs, 3 of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kinds, straight flushes and last but not least royal flushes. It definitely goes without saying that the pay out schedule can range from machine to machine, so that experienced bettors are able to select the most money-making ones every instance.
Once the first round has completed, the player can either decide to stay on in an attempt to maximize their earnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any credits that might been won. Further, several versions of the game give the bettor a chance to double their winnings, in which instance another hand is played. There are also differences among specific games, with some decks of cards having wild cards and other differing aspects to enhance playability.