[ English | Deutsch | Español | Français | Italiano ]

Video Poker is a favored game that can be gambled on in casinos throughout the world, or alternatively at home on your PC, through an Internet account. The game rules are absolutely simple and involve the player attempting to get the highest combination of cards achievable in order to come away with cash. On this account it’s much the same as a regular game of poker, apart from the interaction with any other players. Of course, techniques used in a physical game of poker, like tricking, will be useless in Video Poker.

The game of Video Poker starts when the player puts credits (either tokens, tickets or money) into the machine and presses the play button. A hand of five cards will be "dealt" on the video screen.

The Video Poker game also has buttons with ‘hold’ printed on them, and players will need to now decide which cards to keep and which to discard. For the cards the player would like to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons must be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can choose to keep any amount of cards they want, from all to none.

After the player has decided on which cards he or she would like to keep, the player will then press ‘deal’, at which point any new cards will be needed they will be dealt. The round is now completed, with the Video 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 succeeding hand on an Electronic Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money growing for each and every better hand. A common list of winning hands begins 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 goes without saying that the pay out schedule can vary from game to game, so that experienced bettors are able to pick the most beneficial game each and every time.

Once the initial round has finished, the player can either decide to remain on and try to to maximize their earnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any cash that might have been won. Further, a few versions of the game give the player an opportunity to double their winnings, in which situation another hand is played. There are also variations between specific games, with some decks of cards including wild cards and other varying elements to increase playability.