Video Poker is a popular game that can be bet on in casinos around the world, or in your house on your computer, using a web account. The game rules are absolutely straightforward and consist of the player trying to get the best mixture of cards as you can in order to win cash. On this account it’s very similar as a regular game of poker, minus the line of contact with other players. Of course, tactics employed during a physical game of poker, like bluffing, will be useless in Video Poker.
The game of Video Poker starts when the gambler puts credits (either tokens, tickets or money) into the video poker machine and presses the deal button. A hand of 5 cards will then be "given out" on the screen.
The Video Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ printed on them, and bettors will need to now decide which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the enthusiast wishes to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons must 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 bettor has decided on which cards he would like to keep, they should press ‘draw’, at which point any new cards will be needed they will be dealt. The game is now completed, with the Electronic Poker machine analyzing the hand to see if it matches any of the winning hands listed in the payment schedule.
Typically, the lowest winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money increasing for each and every better hand. A common list of winning hands starts with jacks or better, moving on to 2 pairs, 3 of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kinds, straight flushes and last but not least royal flushes. It goes without saying that the pay out schedule can vary from game to game, so that skillful enthusiasts are agile enough to pick the most profitable machine each instance.
As soon as the first round has completed, the player can either choose to stay on and try to to maximize their winnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any credits that they may have won. Additionally, a few versions of the game give the player an opportunity to double their winnings, in which case a further game is played. There are also differences between specific games, with some decks of cards having wild cards and other varying characteristics to enhance playability.