Video Poker is a beloved game that is able to be enjoyed in casinos around the globe, or in your house on your home computer, through a net connection. The game rules are very straightforward and consist of the player trying to achieve the best combination of cards possible in order to come away with money. On this account it’s very similar as a normal game of poker, minus the interaction with competing players. Of course, methods employed during a physical game of poker, such as tricking, will be useless here.
The game of Video Poker begins when the bettor inserts credits (whether it is tokens, tickets or cash) into the video poker machine and presses the draw button. A 5 card hand will then be "distributed" on the screen.
The Video Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ printed on them, and gamblers will need to now pick which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the player wishes to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons need to be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can decide to keep any number of cards they wish, from all to none.
After the gambler has decided on which cards he would like to keep, the player will then press ‘draw’, at which point any new cards will be needed they will be given out. The hand is now completed, with the Electronic Poker machine scanning the hand to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands listed in the payment schedule.
Generally, the lowest succeeding hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money getting larger for each better hand. A list of common winning hands starts with jacks or better, and moves on to two pairs, 3 of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, 4 of a kinds, straight flushes and last but not least royal flushes. It definitely goes without saying that the payment schedule can range from machine to machine, so that discerning gamblers are able to pick the most money-making machine each and every time.
Once the first round has finished, the player can either choose to stay on in an attempt to increase their earnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any cash that they may have won. Additionally, several styles of the game give the enthusiast an opportunity to increase their winnings, in which case a further round is played. There are also variations among specific machines, with some virtual decks having wild cards and other differing characteristics to enhance playability.