21 Apr 09

[ English ]

Video Poker is a beloved game that can be enjoyed in casinos throughout the world, or alternatively at your house on your PC, using an net connection. The game rules are very straightforward and involve the player attempting to get the best combination of cards as you can in order to win money. In this respect it’s much the same as a normal game of poker, without the line of contact with any other players. Of course, tactics employed during a physical game of poker, such as bluffing, will be useless here.

The game of Video Poker begins when the enthusiast puts credits (either tokens, credit slips or money) into the machine and presses the draw button. A five card hand will be electronically ‘distributed’ on the screen.

The Electronic Poker machine also has hold buttons, and players will need to now pick which cards to hold and which to throw away. For the cards the gambler would like to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons need to be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can decide to keep any number of cards they want, whether it’s all or none.

After the enthusiast has chosen which cards he or she wishes to keep, the player will then press ‘deal’, at which point any new cards are handed out if desired. The hand is now completed, with the Video Poker machine analyzing the cards to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands shown on the payout schedule.

Normally, the minimum succeeding hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money growing for each and every better hand. A common list of winning hands starts with jacks or better, and moves on to two pairs, 3 of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kinds, straight flushes and finally royal flushes. It should be known that the payment schedule can change from game to game, so that skillful gamblers are agile enough to pick the most profitable machine every time.

After the initial round has finished, the player can either choose to stay on and try to to maximize their winnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any credits that have been won. Additionally, several styles of the game allow the enthusiast a chance to double their wins, in which case another round is played. There are also differences between specific games, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other varying characteristics to increase playability.