Video Poker is a popular game that is able to be enjoyed in casinos all over the globe, or alternatively at home on your computer, using an Internet connection. The rules are very simple and consist of the player trying to achieve the best mixture of cards possible in order to come away with money. In this respect it is much the same as a regular game of poker, apart from the interaction with any other players. Of course, tactics employed during a physical game of poker, such as tricking, will be useless in Video Poker.
The game of Video Poker starts when the bettor puts credits (either tokens, credit slips or money) into the machine and pushes the draw button. A five card hand will then be "given out" on the video screen.
The Electronic Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ printed on them, and gamblers will need to now decide 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 choose to keep any number of cards they wish, from all to none.
After the enthusiast has chosen which cards she wishes to keep, the player will then press ‘draw’, at which point any new cards will be needed they will be dealt. The round is now completed, with the Video Poker machine analyzing the cards to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands printed on the payment schedule.
Normally, the minimum winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money increasing for each and every better hand. A list of common winning hands begins with jacks or better, moving 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 pay out schedule can change from game to game, so that knowledgeable players are agile enough to pick the most money-making ones each instance.
Once the initial round has completed, the player can either choose to stay on and try to to maximize their earnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any credits that they may have won. Further, several styles of the game give the bettor a chance to increase their winnings, in which case a further round is played. There are also variations between individual machines, with some decks of cards including wild cards and other differing characteristics to increase playability.