Video Poker is a popular game that is able to be played in casinos all over the globe, or alternatively at your house on your computer, using a net account. The game rules are very straightforward and involve the player attempting to get the best mixture of cards possible in order to come away with money. On this account it is much the same as a normal game of poker, minus the interaction with any other players. Of course, tactics employed during a physical game of poker, such as tricking, will be irrelevant here.
The game of Video Poker starts when the enthusiast inserts credits (either tokens, credit slips or money) into the machine and presses the deal button. A hand of 5 cards will be "handed out" on the screen.
The Video Poker game also has hold buttons, and bettors should now choose which cards to keep and which to discard. For the cards the player would like to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons need to be pressed so that they light up. The player can decide to keep any number of cards they wish, from all to none.
After the enthusiast has selected which cards he wishes to keep, they should press ‘deal’, at which point any new cards are needed they will be handed out. The round is now finished, with the Video Poker machine analyzing the cards to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands listed in the payout schedule.
Normally, the lowest succeeding hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money getting larger for each better hand. A common list of winning hands starts with jacks or better, moving 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 goes without saying that the payment schedule can vary from machine to machine, so that skillful bettors are agile enough to choose the most money-making game each and every time.
After the initial round has completed, the player can either choose to continue on in an attempt to increase their winnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any money that they may have won. Further, several versions of the game allow the player an opportunity to double their profits, in which instance another game is played. There are also variations between specific machines, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other varying characteristics to enhance playability.