Video Poker is a popular game that is able to be wagered on in casinos all over the globe, or alternatively at home on your computer, using a web account. The game rules are very straightforward and involve the player attempting to get the greatest mixture of cards as you can in order to come away with cash. In this respect it is very similar as a normal game of poker, minus the line of contact with competing players. Of course, methods employed during a physical game of poker, such as tricking, will be irrelevant in Video Poker.
The game of Video Poker begins when the player puts credits (whether it’s tokens, tickets or cash) into the machine and presses the play button. A hand of five cards will be "given out" on the screen.
The Electronic Poker game also has buttons with ‘hold’ written on them, and bettors should now pick which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the bettor wishes to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons must be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can decide to keep any number of cards they want, from all to none.
After the player has chosen which cards he would like to keep, they should press ‘deal’, at which point any new cards will be dealt if desired. The game is now completed, with the Electronic Poker machine analyzing the cards to see if it matches any of the winning hands printed on the pay out schedule.
Normally, the lowest succeeding hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money growing for each better hand. A common list of winning hands starts 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 payout schedule can vary from machine to machine, so that skillful players are able to select the most money-making game each time.
As soon as the initial round has completed, the player can either decide to stay on and try to to maximize their earnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any credits that they may have won. Further, several styles of the game give the enthusiast an opportunity to double their wins, in which situation another round is played. There are also variations among specific games, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other differing characteristics to increase playability.