Video Poker is a popular game that usually will be wagered on in casinos all over the world, or alternatively at home on your personal computer, through a web connection. The game rules are very straightforward and involve the player attempting to achieve the highest assemblage of cards achievable in order to acquire money. In this respect it’s much the same as a normal game of poker, without the interaction with competing players. Of course, tactics used in a physical game of poker, like tricking, will be irrelevant here.
The game of Video Poker begins when the player puts credits (whether it’s tokens, credit slips or cash) into the machine and pushes the draw button. A five card hand will then be electronically ‘dealt’ on the video screen.
The Video Poker game also has hold buttons, and bettors will need to now decide which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the bettor would like to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons must be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can choose to keep any amount of cards they wish, whether it’s all or none.
After the gambler has chosen which cards he or she wishes to keep, they should press ‘deal’, which will mean that any new cards are dealt if desired. The round is now completed, with the Electronic Poker machine scanning the hand to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands shown on the payment schedule.
Typically, the minimum succeeding hand on an Electronic Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money getting larger for each better hand. A list of common winning hands begins with jacks or better, moving on to two pairs, 3 of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, 4 of a kinds, straight flushes and finally royal flushes. It goes without saying that the payout schedule can vary from game to game, so that discerning bettors are agile enough to pick the most money-making game each and every time.
Once the first round has played out, the player can either choose to remain on and try to to increase their earnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any money that they may have won. Additionally, some styles of the game allow the player an opportunity to double their wins, in which instance another game is played. There are also variations among specific games, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other varying elements to increase playability.