Electronic Poker is a popular game that can be wagered on in casinos throughout the globe, or in your house on your personal computer, through a web connection. The game rules are very straightforward and consist of the player trying to get the highest assemblage of cards possible in order to come away with cash. On this account it is much the same as a regular game of poker, minus the interaction with any other players. Of course, tactics used in a physical game of poker, such as tricking, will be irrelevant in Video Poker.
The game of Electronic Poker starts when the gambler puts credits (either tokens, credit slips or cash) into the video poker machine and presses the play button. A five card hand will be electronically ‘handed out’ on the video screen.
The Video Poker machine also has hold buttons, and gamblers should now pick which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the enthusiast would like to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons should 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 player has decided on which cards he or she wishes to retain, the player will then press ‘draw’, which will mean that any new cards will be needed they will be handed out. The round is now finished, with the Video Poker machine scanning the cards to see if it matches any of the winning hands listed in the pay out schedule.
Normally, 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 common list of winning hands begins with jacks or better, and moves on to 2 pairs, three 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 payment schedule can range from machine to machine, so that discerning gamblers are able to choose the most money-making game each and every instance.
As soon as the initial round has completed, the player can either choose to stay on in an attempt to maximize their winnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any money that has been won. Further, several versions of the game give the bettor a chance to increase their winnings, in which situation a further game is played. There are also differences between individual machines, with some decks of cards including wild cards and other varying characteristics to increase playability.