Video Poker is a popular game that can be gambled on in casinos around the world, or in your house on your PC, using an Internet connection. The game rules are very simple and consist of the player attempting to achieve the best mixture of cards possible in order to come away with cash. In this respect it’s very similar as a normal game of poker, minus the involvement with other players. Of course, tactics used in a real-life game of poker, like tricking, will be irrelevant in Video Poker.

The game of Electronic Poker starts when the bettor puts credits (either tokens, credit slips or money) into the video poker machine and presses the draw button. A 5 card hand will be electronically ‘dealt’ on the video screen.

The Electronic Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ written on them, and enthusiasts should now decide which cards to hold and which to throw away. For the cards the player would like to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they light up. The player can choose to keep any number of cards they want, from all to none.

After the enthusiast has decided on which cards he or she wishes to keep, the player will then press ‘draw’, which will mean that any fresh cards will be given out if desired. The round is now completed, with the Video Poker machine scanning the hand to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands listed in the pay out schedule.

Generally, the lowest 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 list of common winning hands starts with jacks or better, and moves on to 2 pairs, 3 of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, 4 of a kinds, straight flushes and finally royal flushes. It goes without saying that the payout schedule can change from machine to machine, so that knowledgeable bettors are agile enough to pick the most profitable ones each and every instance.

After the first round has finished, the player can either choose to remain on and try to to increase their earnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any credits that might been won. Further, several versions of the game allow the player an opportunity to double their profits, in which case a further game is played. There are also variations between individual games, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other varying aspects to increase playability.