Video Poker is a beloved game that usually will be wagered on in casinos across the globe, or alternatively at home on your PC, through a web account. The game rules are very simple and involve the player trying to get the best assemblage of cards achievable in order to acquire cash. In this respect it is much the same as a normal game of poker, minus the line of contact with any other players. Of course, tactics employed during a real-life game of poker, such as tricking, will be irrelevant in Video Poker.
The game of Electronic Poker starts when the enthusiast puts credits (either tokens, tickets or money) into the machine and pushes the play button. A hand of five cards will be electronically ‘handed out’ on the video screen.
The Video Poker game also has buttons with ‘hold’ printed on them, and players should now decide which cards to keep and which to discard. For the cards the enthusiast would like to retain, 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 player has chosen which cards he wishes to keep, the player will then press ‘draw’, which will mean that any fresh cards will be given out if desired. The round is now finished, with the Electronic Poker machine scanning the cards to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands shown on the payout schedule.
Typically, the minimum succeeding hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money increasing for each better hand. A common list of winning hands begins 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 payment schedule can vary from machine to machine, so that discerning enthusiasts are agile enough to pick the most money-making machine each time.
Once the first round has played out, the player can either decide to continue on in an attempt to maximize their earnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any money that might have been won. Further, some versions of the game allow the player an opportunity to increase their winnings, in which case another game is played. There are also variations among specific machines, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other varying characteristics to increase playability.