Electronic Poker is a favored game that can be wagered on in casinos all over the globe, or in your house on your personal computer, using a web connection. The rules are absolutely simple and consist of the player attempting to achieve the highest assemblage of cards possible in order to acquire money. In this respect it’s very similar as a normal game of poker, apart from the interaction with other players. Of course, tactics employed during a real-life game of poker, like bluffing, will be irrelevant in Video Poker.
The game of Electronic Poker begins when the gambler inserts credits (either tokens, tickets or cash) into the video poker machine and presses the draw button. A hand of five cards will then be electronically ‘given out’ on the video screen.
The Electronic Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ written on them, and players will need to now decide which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the enthusiast wishes to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons need to be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can decide to keep any amount of cards they want, from all to none.
After the gambler has chosen which cards she wishes to retain, the player will then press ‘deal’, at which point any new cards are dealt if desired. The round is now completed, with the Video Poker machine analyzing the hand to see if it matches any of the winning hands shown on the payout schedule.
Generally, the lowest succeeding hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money growing for each better hand. A list of common winning hands starts with jacks or better, and moves on to two 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 range from machine to machine, so that discerning enthusiasts are agile enough to pick the most profitable machine every instance.
As soon as the first round has completed, the player can either decide to remain on and try to to maximize their earnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any cash that they may have won. Additionally, a few versions of the game give the player an opportunity to double their wins, in which instance another hand is played. There are also variations among individual games, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other differing elements to increase playability.