Video Poker is a popular game that is able to be played in casinos all over the world, or in your house on your personal computer, through a net connection. The rules are very straightforward and involve the player trying to achieve the best mixture of cards as you can in order to acquire money. In this respect it’s much the same as a classic game of poker, minus the involvement with any other players. Of course, methods used in a physical game of poker, like bluffing, will be useless in Video Poker.
The game of Video Poker begins when the gambler puts credits (either tokens, credit slips or money) into the video poker machine and pushes the deal button. A hand of five cards will be electronically ‘distributed’ on the video screen.
The Electronic Poker game also has hold buttons, and gamblers should now choose which cards to hold and which to discard. For the cards the gambler would like to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons must be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can decide to keep any amount of cards they wish, from all to none.
After the gambler has selected which cards he would like to keep, they should press ‘draw’, at which point any fresh cards will be needed they will be given out. The hand is now finished, with the Electronic Poker machine analyzing the hand to see if it matches any of the winning hands printed on the payment schedule.
Typically, the minimum succeeding hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money getting larger for each and every 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 should be known that the pay out schedule can vary from machine to machine, so that knowledgeable bettors are able to pick the most profitable ones each time.
As soon as the initial round has completed, the player can either choose to remain on and try to to increase their earnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any cash that might have been won. Further, some versions of the game allow the enthusiast an opportunity to double their profits, in which situation a further hand is played. There are also variations among individual games, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other differing characteristics to increase playability.