Video Poker is a popular game that can be gambled on in casinos all over the world, or in your house on your computer, using an Internet connection. The game rules are absolutely straightforward and consist of the player trying to achieve the highest assemblage of cards achievable in order to win cash. In this respect it’s very similar as a regular game of poker, without the line of contact with any other players. Of course, methods employed during a real-life game of poker, like tricking, will be useless in Video Poker.
The game of Video Poker starts when the gambler puts credits (either tokens, credit slips or money) into the machine and presses the play button. A five card hand will then be "dealt" on the screen.
The Electronic Poker game also has hold buttons, and players will need to now choose which cards to keep and which to discard. For the cards the gambler 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 gambler has selected which cards he would like to retain, the player will then press ‘draw’, at which point any new cards will be dealt if desired. The hand is now completed, with the Video Poker machine scanning the hand to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands shown on the payout schedule.
Normally, the lowest succeeding hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money increasing for each better hand. A common list of 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 finally royal flushes. It goes without saying that the payment schedule can change from machine to machine, so that discerning players are agile enough to choose the most beneficial ones each and every time.
Once the initial round has played out, the player can either decide to remain on in an attempt to increase their winnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any money that might have been won. Further, several versions of the game allow the gambler an opportunity to increase their winnings, in which case another hand is played. There are also variations among specific machines, with some virtual decks having wild cards and other varying aspects to increase playability.
