Electronic Poker is a popular game that can be played in casinos across the globe, or alternatively at home on your personal computer, using a web connection. The regulations are very simple and involve the player trying to get the best assemblage of cards possible in order to come away with money. In this respect it’s very similar as a classic game of poker, apart from the interaction with other players. Of course, techniques used in a real-life game of poker, like bluffing, will be irrelevant here.
The game of Video Poker starts when the bettor puts credits (either tokens, credit slips or cash) into the video poker machine and presses the deal button. A 5 card hand will be electronically ‘distributed’ on the video screen.
The Video Poker game also has buttons with ‘hold’ printed on them, and bettors should now decide which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the gambler would like to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons must be pressed so that they light up. The player can decide to keep any number of cards they want, whether it’s all or none.
After the gambler has chosen which cards he wishes to retain, they should press ‘deal’, which will mean that any new cards are needed they will be handed out. The round is now finished, with the Electronic Poker machine analyzing the hand to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands listed in the payout schedule.
Generally, the lowest winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money growing for each better hand. A list of common 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 agile enough to choose the most beneficial machine every instance.
After the first round has completed, the player can either choose to remain on and try to to maximize their winnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any cash that has been won. Further, a few styles of the game give the bettor an opportunity to increase their wins, in which case another game is played. There are also variations between specific machines, with some decks of cards including wild cards and other varying elements to increase playability.