Video Poker is a popular game that is able to be wagered on in casinos across the globe, or in your house on your home computer, through a web connection. The regulations are very straightforward and involve the player trying to get the highest combination of cards possible in order to win money. On this account it’s much the same as a regular game of poker, without the interaction with any other players. Of course, methods used in a real-life game of poker, like bluffing, will be useless here.
The game of Video Poker begins when the player puts credits (whether it’s tokens, credit slips or cash) into the video poker machine and pushes the draw button. A five card hand will be "handed out" on the screen.
The Electronic Poker machine also has hold buttons, and gamblers will need to now choose which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the bettor would like to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons must be pressed so that they light up. The player can decide to keep any amount of cards they wish, whether it’s all or none.
After the enthusiast has chosen which cards she wishes to retain, they should press ‘deal’, which will mean that any fresh cards will be given out if desired. The hand is now finished, with the Video Poker machine analyzing the hand to see if it matches any of the winning hands shown on the payout schedule.
Normally, the minimum winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money growing for each better hand. A list of common winning hands starts with jacks or better, moving on to two 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 range from game to game, so that discerning enthusiasts are able to choose the most profitable ones each and every instance.
Once the initial round has played out, the player can either choose to continue on in an attempt to increase their earnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any cash that might have been won. Further, a few versions of the game allow the gambler an opportunity to double their winnings, in which case another hand is played. There are also variations among individual machines, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other varying aspects to increase playability.