Video Poker is a beloved game that can be played in casinos throughout the globe, or in your house on your PC, through an Internet account. The game rules are absolutely straightforward and consist of the player trying to achieve the greatest mixture of cards achievable in order to win money. In this respect it is much the same as a normal game of poker, without the interaction with other players. Of course, tactics employed during a real-life game of poker, such as tricking, will be useless in Video Poker.

The game of Video Poker begins when the bettor puts credits (either tokens, credit slips or money) into the machine and pushes the draw button. A hand of five cards will be "given out" on the screen.

The Video Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ written on them, and gamblers will need to now pick which cards to hold and which to throw away. For the cards the gambler wishes to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons need to 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 selected which cards he wishes to keep, the player will then press ‘deal’, at which point any fresh cards are given out if desired. The game is now completed, with the Electronic Poker machine analyzing the cards to see if it matches any of the winning hands listed in the payout schedule.

Generally, the lowest winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money increasing for each better hand. A list of common winning hands begins with jacks or better, and moves on to 2 pairs, three of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, 4 of a kinds, straight flushes and last but not least royal flushes. It should be known that the payout schedule can change from machine to machine, so that knowledgeable players are agile enough to select the most profitable machine every instance.

Once the initial round has completed, the player can either choose to stay on in an attempt to increase their winnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any cash that has been won. Additionally, some versions of the game allow the player an opportunity to double their profits, in which case a further hand is played. There are also variations among specific games, with some virtual decks having wild cards and other varying aspects to enhance playability.