Video Poker is a popular game that can be played in casinos around the world, or alternatively at your house on your home computer, through a web connection. The regulations are very simple and involve the player trying to achieve the highest mixture of cards possible in order to acquire cash. On this account it is much the same as a classic game of poker, minus the involvement with competing players. Of course, techniques employed during a physical game of poker, such as tricking, will be useless here.
The game of Electronic Poker begins when the gambler inserts credits (either tokens, tickets or cash) into the machine and presses the play button. A hand of five cards will then 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 would like to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can choose to keep any number of cards they wish, whether it is all or none.
After the player has decided on which cards he would like to keep, the player will then press ‘draw’, which will mean that any new cards will be given out if desired. The game is now completed, with the Video Poker machine scanning the cards to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands shown on the pay out schedule.
Typically, the minimum winning hand on an Electronic Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money getting larger for each better hand. A common list of winning hands begins with jacks or better, and moves on to two pairs, three of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kinds, straight flushes and finally royal flushes. It should be known that the payment schedule can range from machine to machine, so that skillful gamblers are able to pick the most money-making machine every instance.
As soon as the initial round has completed, the player can either decide to remain on in an attempt to maximize their earnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any money that might have been won. Additionally, a few styles of the game give the player a chance to double their profits, in which case another hand is played. There are also variations among individual games, with some decks of cards having wild cards and other varying elements to enhance playability.