Video Poker is a beloved game that can be wagered on in casinos all over the globe, or in your house on your home computer, using an Internet connection. The game rules are absolutely simple and involve the player trying to get the highest combination of cards possible in order to come away with cash. On this account it is very similar as a normal game of poker, without the interaction with any other players. Of course, methods used in a real-life game of poker, such as tricking, will be useless here.
The game of Video Poker starts when the player inserts credits (either tokens, tickets or cash) into the machine and presses the play button. A hand of 5 cards will be electronically ‘handed out’ on the screen.
The Electronic Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ printed on them, and bettors will need to now choose which cards to hold and which to discard. For the cards the gambler would like to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons must be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can choose to keep any number of cards they wish, from all to none.
After the enthusiast has selected which cards she wishes to retain, the player will then press ‘draw’, at which point any fresh cards will be handed out if desired. The hand is now completed, with the Electronic Poker machine analyzing the cards to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands printed on the pay out schedule.
Normally, the minimum winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money growing for each and every better hand. A common list of winning hands begins with jacks or better, and moves on to two pairs, three of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, 4 of a kinds, straight flushes and finally royal flushes. It should be known that the pay out schedule can range from machine to machine, so that knowledgeable enthusiasts are agile enough to choose the most profitable ones every instance.
Once the initial round has finished, the player can either decide to stay on and try to to maximize their earnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any money that they may have won. Further, several versions of the game give the gambler a chance to double their profits, in which instance a further round is played. There are also variations between specific machines, with some decks of cards having wild cards and other differing elements to increase playability.