Video Poker is a popular game that is able to be gambled on in casinos around the world, or in your house on your PC, through a web account. The game rules are very straightforward and consist of the player attempting to achieve the best combination of cards possible in order to acquire money. In this respect it is very similar as a regular game of poker, apart from the involvement with other players. Of course, methods used in a physical game of poker, such as bluffing, will be useless in Video Poker.
The game of Electronic Poker starts when the gambler inserts credits (either tokens, tickets or money) into the machine and pushes the draw button. A hand of five cards will then be "distributed" on the screen.
The Electronic Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ printed on them, and bettors will need to now decide which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the enthusiast wishes to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons must be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can choose to keep any number of cards they wish, from all to none.
After the player has selected which cards she wishes to keep, the player will then press ‘deal’, at which point any fresh cards will be handed out if desired. The game is now finished, with the Electronic Poker machine analyzing the hand to see if it matches any of the winning hands shown on the pay out schedule.
Normally, the lowest winning 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 begins with jacks or better, moving on to two 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 range from game to game, so that discerning players are agile enough to pick the most money-making ones every time.
Once the initial round has played out, the player can either decide to stay on in an attempt to maximize their earnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any credits that might been won. Further, a few styles of the game give the bettor a chance to increase their profits, in which situation another game is played. There are also variations among specific games, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other varying characteristics to enhance playability.
