Electronic Poker is a popular game that can be played in casinos across the globe, or alternatively at home on your computer, using a web account. The rules are very simple and consist of the player attempting to get the greatest mixture of cards possible in order to win cash. In this respect it is much the same as a classic game of poker, apart from the interaction 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 (whether it is tokens, tickets or money) into the video poker machine and pushes the deal button. A hand of 5 cards will be electronically ‘handed out’ on the screen.
The Electronic Poker game also has buttons with ‘hold’ written on them, and gamblers should now pick which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the enthusiast would like to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons need to be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can decide to keep any number of cards they wish, from all to none.
After the gambler has decided on which cards he wishes to retain, they should press ‘draw’, at which point any fresh cards will be needed they will be dealt. The round is now finished, with the Electronic 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 succeeding hand on an Electronic Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money growing for each better hand. A list of common winning hands starts with jacks or better, and moves on to 2 pairs, three of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kinds, straight flushes and finally royal flushes. It is obvious that the pay out schedule can vary from game to game, so that experienced bettors are agile enough to select the most money-making ones every time.
As soon as the first round has finished, the player can either choose to remain on and try to to maximize their earnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any credits that they may have won. Further, several versions of the game give the player an opportunity to increase their winnings, in which case a further game is played. There are also variations among individual machines, with some virtual decks having wild cards and other differing aspects to increase playability.