Video Poker is a popular game that can be bet on in casinos across the globe, or alternatively at home on your PC, through a web account. The game rules are very straightforward and involve the player attempting to achieve the highest assemblage of cards possible in order to win money. In this respect it’s very similar as a normal game of poker, without the involvement with any other players. Of course, techniques used in a real-life game of poker, such as tricking, will be irrelevant here.
The game of Video Poker starts when the enthusiast inserts credits (either tokens, credit slips or money) into the video poker machine and presses the draw button. A hand of five cards will be "given out" on the video screen.
The Video Poker game also has hold buttons, and bettors should now decide which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the enthusiast 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 want, whether it is all or none.
After the player has chosen which cards he would like to retain, they should press ‘deal’, at which point any new cards are needed they will be dealt. The hand is now completed, with the Electronic Poker machine scanning the cards to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands shown on the pay out schedule.
Normally, the lowest winning hand on an Electronic Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize 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, four of a kinds, straight flushes and finally royal flushes. It is obvious that the pay out schedule can vary from game to game, so that experienced players are agile enough to choose the most beneficial game each time.
Once the initial round has finished, the player can either choose to stay on in an attempt to increase their earnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any money that might have been won. Further, several styles of the game allow the gambler an opportunity to increase their winnings, in which case a further round is played. There are also variations among specific games, with some decks of cards having wild cards and other differing aspects to increase playability.
