Video Poker is a favored game that is able to be played in casinos all over the world, or alternatively at home on your computer, through a net account. The rules are very simple and consist of the player trying to achieve the best mixture of cards possible in order to win cash. In this respect it is much the same as a regular game of poker, minus the involvement with other players. Of course, methods employed during a physical game of poker, such as bluffing, will be irrelevant in Video Poker.
The game of Electronic Poker starts when the gambler inserts credits (either tokens, credit slips or money) into the video poker machine and presses the draw button. A 5 card hand will be "dealt" on the video screen.
The Electronic Poker game also has buttons with ‘hold’ printed on them, and players should now decide which cards to hold and which to throw away. For the cards the enthusiast wishes to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they light up. The player can choose to keep any amount of cards they wish, whether it’s all or none.
After the enthusiast has chosen which cards she would like to retain, they should press ‘deal’, at which point any new cards will be given out if desired. The hand is now finished, with the Video Poker machine analyzing the hand to see if it matches any of the winning hands listed in the pay out schedule.
Normally, the lowest winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money getting larger for each and every better hand. A list of common winning hands begins with jacks or better, and moves on to 2 pairs, three of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, 4 of a kinds, straight flushes and finally royal flushes. It is obvious that the payout schedule can change from machine to machine, so that discerning gamblers are agile enough to choose the most profitable machine each and every instance.
After the first round has finished, the player can either choose to remain on in an attempt to maximize their winnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any cash that might have been won. Additionally, some styles of the game allow the bettor a chance to increase their winnings, in which case another hand is played. There are also variations between specific games, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other differing aspects to enhance playability.