Video Poker is a favored game that can be wagered on in casinos around the world, or in your house on your home computer, through an Internet account. The rules are absolutely simple and involve the player attempting to achieve the highest mixture of cards possible in order to aquire money. In this respect it is much the same as a regular game of poker, minus the interaction with any other players. Of course, tactics used in a real-life game of poker, such as bluffing, will be irrelevant here.
The game of Video Poker begins when the player puts credits (either tokens, tickets or money) into the video poker machine and pushes the deal button. A hand of five cards will then be "handed out" on the video screen.
The Video Poker machine also has hold buttons, and players should now choose which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the gambler would like to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons need to be pressed so that they light up. The player can choose to keep any number of cards they wish, from all to none.
After the bettor has selected which cards she wishes to keep, the player will then press ‘deal’, at which point any new cards are needed they will be given out. The round is now completed, with the Video Poker machine analyzing the cards to see if it matches any of the winning hands shown on the payment schedule.
Normally, the lowest succeeding hand on a Electronic Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money increasing for each better hand. A list of common winning hands starts with jacks or better, moving on to 2 pairs, 3 of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, 4 of a kinds, straight flushes and finally royal flushes. It definitely goes without saying that the payout schedule can vary from game to game, so that discerning bettors are able to pick the most money-making machine every time.
As soon as the first round has completed, the player can either decide to continue on in an attempt to maximize their earnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any credits that they may have won. Additionally, a few styles of the game give the player a chance to double their wins, in which instance a further round is played. There are also variations between individual games, with some virtual decks having wild cards and other varying elements to enhance playability.