Video Poker is a popular game that is able to be wagered on in casinos throughout the world, or alternatively at your house on your computer, through a net account. The game rules are absolutely simple and consist of the player attempting to get the best mixture of cards achievable in order to come away with cash. In this respect it is very similar as a normal game of poker, without the interaction with competing players. Of course, methods used in a physical game of poker, such as bluffing, will be irrelevant in Video Poker.
The game of Video Poker begins when the player inserts credits (whether it is tokens, credit slips or money) into the machine and presses the play button. A hand of 5 cards will be "given out" on the screen.
The Video Poker game also has buttons with ‘hold’ printed on them, and bettors will need to now choose which cards to hold and which to throw away. For the cards the bettor wishes to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons need to be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can choose to keep any number of cards they want, whether it is all or none.
After the player has selected which cards he would like to keep, they should press ‘draw’, at which point any new cards will be needed they will be handed out. The round is now finished, with the Video Poker machine analyzing the hand to see if it matches any of the winning hands listed in the payment schedule.
Generally, the lowest succeeding hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money increasing for each better hand. A common list of winning hands starts with jacks or better, and moves on to 2 pairs, three 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 payment schedule can vary from game to game, so that knowledgeable bettors are able to select the most money-making machine each time.
Once the first round has completed, the player can either choose to remain on in an attempt to maximize their winnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any money that might have been won. Further, several versions of the game allow the player an opportunity to increase their wins, in which instance a further hand is played. There are also variations among individual machines, with some decks of cards including wild cards and other varying aspects to increase playability.
