Electronic Poker is a popular game that can be wagered on in casinos throughout the world, or alternatively at your house on your home computer, through an Internet connection. The rules are very straightforward and involve the player attempting to achieve the greatest combination of cards possible in order to win cash. In this respect it’s much the same as a classic game of poker, minus the involvement with any other players. Of course, tactics employed during a real-life game of poker, such as tricking, will be useless here.
The game of Video Poker starts when the player inserts credits (either tokens, tickets or cash) into the machine and presses the draw button. A 5 card hand will then be electronically ‘handed out’ on the video screen.
The Electronic Poker game also has hold buttons, and players will need to now choose which cards to hold and which to throw away. For the cards the enthusiast wishes to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons must be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can decide to keep any number of cards they want, whether it’s all or none.
After the player has decided on which cards he or she would like to retain, the player will then press ‘deal’, at which point any new cards are needed they will be dealt. The game is now finished, with the Electronic Poker machine scanning the hand to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands shown on the payout schedule.
Normally, the lowest succeeding hand on an Electronic Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money getting larger for each and every better hand. A list of common winning hands begins with jacks or better, and moves 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 payout schedule can vary from machine to machine, so that knowledgeable players are able to select the most money-making game each time.
As soon as the initial round has completed, the player can either choose to continue on and try to to maximize their earnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any credits that have been won. Further, a few versions of the game allow the player a chance to double their wins, in which instance another hand is played. There are also variations among specific games, with some decks of cards including wild cards and other differing aspects to increase playability.