Video Poker is a beloved game that can be bet on in casinos across the globe, or in your house on your PC, using a net connection. The regulations are absolutely straightforward and involve the player trying to get the greatest combination of cards as you can in order to acquire money. In this respect it’s much the same as a normal game of poker, minus the interaction with any other players. Of course, methods employed during a real-life game of poker, like tricking, will be useless in Video Poker.

The game of Video Poker begins when the gambler puts credits (either tokens, tickets or cash) into the machine and pushes the play button. A five card hand will then be "dealt" on the screen.

The Video Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ written on them, and bettors will need to now decide which cards to hold and which to discard. For the cards the bettor wishes to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons must be pressed so that they light up. The player can choose to keep any amount of cards they wish, whether it’s all or none.

After the enthusiast has decided on which cards he or she would like to retain, they should press ‘draw’, which will mean that any new cards will be given out if desired. The game is now finished, with the Video Poker machine analyzing the cards to see if it matches any of the winning hands listed in the pay out schedule.

Typically, the minimum winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money growing for each better hand. A common list of winning hands starts with jacks or better, and moves on to 2 pairs, 3 of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kinds, straight flushes and last but not least royal flushes. It goes without saying that the payment schedule can vary from game to game, so that discerning players are able to select the most money-making game each instance.

As soon as the initial round has played out, the player can either choose to remain on in an attempt to increase their earnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any money that they may have won. Further, several versions of the game allow the bettor an opportunity to increase their profits, in which situation another game is played. There are also differences among specific machines, with some decks of cards having wild cards and other varying elements to enhance playability.