Video Poker is a popular game that is able to be enjoyed in casinos all over the globe, or in your house on your PC, through a web account. The game rules are very simple and involve the player attempting to get the best combination of cards achievable in order to win cash. In this respect it is very similar as a regular game of poker, apart from the involvement with any other players. Of course, methods used in a physical game of poker, such as tricking, will be irrelevant here.
The game of Electronic Poker begins when the gambler puts credits (either tokens, credit slips or money) into the video poker machine and pushes the play button. A hand of 5 cards will be "given out" on the screen.
The Video Poker game also has buttons with ‘hold’ written on them, and enthusiasts should now choose which cards to hold and which to discard. For the cards the bettor would like to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they light up. The player can choose to keep any number of cards they wish, from all to none.
After the bettor has selected which cards he wishes to retain, the player will then press ‘deal’, which will mean that any new cards are handed out if desired. The hand is now completed, with the Video Poker machine analyzing the hand to see if it matches any of the winning hands listed in the payout schedule.
Normally, the lowest winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money increasing for each and every better hand. A list of common winning hands starts with jacks or better, and moves on to 2 pairs, 3 of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kinds, straight flushes and last but not least royal flushes. It should be known that the pay out schedule can range from game to game, so that experienced bettors are agile enough to pick the most profitable game each and every instance.
Once the initial round has played out, the player can either decide to continue on and try to to maximize their earnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any cash that they may have won. Further, several versions of the game allow the player a chance to increase their wins, in which case a further game is played. There are also variations between specific games, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other differing elements to increase playability.