Electronic Poker is a favored game that is able to be wagered on in casinos across the globe, or in your house on your home computer, through a net account. The rules are very simple and involve the player trying to get the best combination of cards as you can in order to come away with cash. In this respect it is very similar as a normal game of poker, apart from the involvement with any other players. Of course, techniques employed during a real-life game of poker, like bluffing, will be irrelevant in Video Poker.
The game of Electronic Poker starts when the enthusiast inserts credits (either tokens, tickets or money) into the video poker machine and pushes the play button. A hand of five cards will be electronically ‘handed out’ on the screen.
The Video Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ printed on them, and gamblers will need to now choose which cards to hold and which to throw away. For the cards the gambler wishes to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can choose to keep any number of cards they want, whether it’s all or none.
After the enthusiast has selected which cards he or she wishes to keep, they should press ‘deal’, at which point any fresh cards are given out if desired. The hand is now finished, with the Video Poker machine scanning the hand to see if it matches any of the winning hands listed in the payment schedule.
Generally, the lowest succeeding hand on an Electronic Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money getting larger for each better hand. A common list of winning hands begins with jacks or better, and moves on to two pairs, 3 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 vary from game to game, so that experienced bettors are agile enough to pick the most profitable ones each time.
Once the initial round has completed, the player can either choose to continue on and try to to increase their winnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any money that they may have won. Further, some versions of the game give the gambler an opportunity to double their wins, in which situation a further hand is played. There are also variations between specific machines, with some virtual decks having wild cards and other differing elements to enhance playability.