Video Poker is a popular game that is able to be enjoyed in casinos throughout the world, or in your house on your home computer, using a web connection. The rules are absolutely straightforward and consist of the player attempting to achieve the best mixture of cards achievable in order to come away with money. In this respect it is much the same 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 tricking, will be useless in Video Poker.

The game of Electronic Poker starts when the player inserts credits (either tokens, tickets or money) into the video poker machine and presses the draw button. A hand of 5 cards will be electronically ‘distributed’ on the video screen.

The Electronic Poker machine also has hold buttons, and gamblers will need to now choose which cards to keep and which to discard. For the cards the gambler would like to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they light up. The player can choose to keep any amount of cards they want, from all to none.

After the enthusiast has chosen which cards he would like to retain, they should press ‘deal’, which will mean that any fresh cards will be needed they will be given out. 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 shown on the payout schedule.

Generally, the minimum winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money growing 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, 4 of a kinds, straight flushes and last but not least royal flushes. It goes without saying that the payout schedule can range from game to game, so that knowledgeable gamblers are agile enough to select the most money-making ones each instance.

As soon as the first round has completed, the player can either decide to remain on and try to to maximize their earnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any credits that they may have won. Further, several styles of the game give the gambler a chance to double their wins, in which situation another hand is played. There are also variations between individual games, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other differing aspects to increase playability.