Video Poker is a beloved game that can be enjoyed in casinos all over the world, or alternatively at home on your personal computer, using a web account. The rules are very simple and involve the player trying to get the highest combination of cards achievable in order to come away with cash. In this respect it’s much the same as a classic game of poker, minus the line of contact with any other players. Of course, methods used in a real-life game of poker, like tricking, will be useless here.
The game of Electronic Poker starts when the gambler inserts credits (whether it is tokens, credit slips or cash) into the machine and presses the play button. A hand of 5 cards will then be electronically ‘dealt’ on the video screen.
The Electronic Poker machine also has hold buttons, and gamblers will need to now decide which cards to hold and which to discard. For the cards the player would like to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons must be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can choose to keep any number of cards they want, whether it is all or none.
After the enthusiast has decided on which cards he or she wishes to retain, they should press ‘deal’, which will mean that any fresh cards are handed out if desired. The game is now completed, with the Electronic Poker machine analyzing the hand to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands printed on the payment schedule.
Generally, the minimum succeeding hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money getting larger for each and every better hand. A common list of winning hands begins with jacks or better, moving on to two pairs, 3 of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kinds, straight flushes and finally royal flushes. It definitely goes without saying that the pay out schedule can range from game to game, so that experienced gamblers are agile enough to choose the most money-making game each and every time.
Once the initial round has played out, the player can either choose to continue on and try to to maximize their winnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any money that has been won. Further, several styles of the game allow the gambler an opportunity to increase their winnings, in which situation another hand is played. There are also differences among individual games, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other differing aspects to increase playability.