Electronic Poker is a favored game that is able to be enjoyed in casinos across the globe, or in your house on your computer, using a net connection. The rules are very simple and involve the player trying to achieve the highest combination of cards achievable in order to acquire cash. In this respect it is much the same as a normal game of poker, minus the involvement with competing players. Of course, techniques used in a physical game of poker, like tricking, will be irrelevant in Video Poker.
The game of Video Poker starts when the gambler inserts credits (either tokens, credit slips or cash) into the video poker machine and presses the deal button. A 5 card hand will then be electronically ‘dealt’ on the screen.
The Electronic Poker game also has hold buttons, and players should now decide which cards to hold and which to throw away. For the cards the player wishes to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons need to be pressed so that they light up. The player can choose to keep any amount of cards they want, from all to none.
After the bettor has chosen which cards he would like to keep, the player will then press ‘draw’, which will mean that any fresh cards are needed they will be handed out. The round is now completed, with the Video Poker machine analyzing the hand to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands listed in the payout schedule.
Typically, the lowest succeeding hand on an Electronic Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money getting larger for each and every 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 last but not least royal flushes. It is obvious that the pay out schedule can vary from game to game, so that knowledgeable players are agile enough to pick the most profitable machine each instance.
As soon as the initial round has played out, the player can either choose to stay on in an attempt to maximize their earnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any cash that has been won. Further, some styles of the game allow the enthusiast a chance to double their winnings, in which instance a further game is played. There are also differences among specific machines, with some decks of cards including wild cards and other varying elements to increase playability.