Video Poker is a popular game that can be enjoyed in casinos all over the world, or alternatively at home on your PC, through an Internet account. The game rules are very simple and consist of the player trying to get the highest mixture of cards possible in order to win money. In this respect it is much the same as a regular game of poker, without the involvement with competing players. Of course, tactics used in a real-life game of poker, such as bluffing, will be useless in Video Poker.
The game of Video Poker begins when the bettor puts credits (whether it’s tokens, tickets or cash) into the video poker machine and presses the deal button. A hand of 5 cards will be "dealt" on the screen.
The Electronic Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ written on them, and players will need to now decide which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the gambler wishes to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they light up. The player can choose to keep any amount of cards they wish, whether it’s all or none.
After the bettor has chosen which cards he would like to keep, the player will then press ‘draw’, at which point any new cards are dealt if desired. The game is now finished, with the Video Poker machine analyzing the cards to see if it matches any of the winning hands shown on the payment schedule.
Typically, the minimum succeeding hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money getting larger 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, 4 of a kinds, straight flushes and last but not least royal flushes. It should be known that the payout schedule can range from machine to machine, so that discerning gamblers are agile enough to choose the most profitable game each and every instance.
After the initial round has finished, the player can either decide to continue on and try to to increase their winnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any cash that might have been won. Further, a few versions of the game allow the player an opportunity to increase their winnings, in which case a further game is played. There are also variations between specific machines, with some virtual decks having wild cards and other varying aspects to enhance playability.