Video Poker is a popular game that can be gambled on in casinos across the world, or alternatively at home on your PC, through a net account. The rules are absolutely straightforward and consist of the player attempting to get the best mixture of cards achievable in order to come away with money. In this respect it is much the same as a regular game of poker, minus the interaction with any other players. Of course, methods used in a real-life game of poker, such as bluffing, will be useless in Video Poker.
The game of Video Poker starts when the gambler puts credits (whether it’s tokens, credit slips or cash) into the machine and pushes the play button. A 5 card hand will then be electronically ‘given out’ on the video screen.
The Video Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ printed on them, and gamblers should now choose which cards to hold and which to discard. For the cards the gambler would like to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can choose to keep any number of cards they want, from all to none.
After the player has chosen which cards he wishes to keep, they should press ‘deal’, which will mean that any fresh cards will be given out if desired. The round is now finished, with the Electronic Poker machine scanning the cards to see if it matches any of the winning hands listed in the payment schedule.
Generally, the minimum winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money increasing for each and every 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, 4 of a kinds, straight flushes and last but not least royal flushes. It definitely goes without saying that the payment schedule can vary from machine to machine, so that discerning bettors are able to select the most profitable machine each and every time.
As soon as the first round has finished, 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 styles of the game allow the player a chance to increase their winnings, in which instance a further hand is played. There are also variations between individual machines, with some decks of cards having wild cards and other varying aspects to enhance playability.
