Electronic Poker is a popular game that can be bet on in casinos across the globe, or alternatively at your house on your personal computer, through a net account. The rules are very straightforward and involve the player trying to get the best mixture of cards possible in order to come away with money. In this respect it is much the same as a normal game of poker, apart from the involvement with other players. Of course, techniques used in a physical game of poker, such as bluffing, will be useless in Video Poker.

The game of Video Poker starts when the enthusiast puts credits (whether it is tokens, credit slips or cash) into the machine and pushes the draw button. A hand of five cards will be "dealt" on the screen.

The Electronic Poker machine also has hold buttons, and players should now decide 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 light up. The player can decide to keep any number of cards they wish, from all to none.

After the enthusiast has decided on which cards he or she would like to retain, they should press ‘draw’, at which point any fresh cards will be needed they will be handed out. The game is now completed, with the Video Poker machine scanning the cards to see if it matches any of the winning hands listed in the payment schedule.

Generally, the minimum winning hand on an Electronic Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money getting larger for each better hand. A list of common winning hands begins with jacks or better, and moves on to 2 pairs, 3 of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kinds, straight flushes and last but not least royal flushes. It should be known that the payout schedule can range from game to game, so that knowledgeable gamblers are agile enough to select the most money-making ones each time.

Once the initial round has played out, the player can either decide to stay on and try to to maximize their winnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any cash that they may have won. Additionally, some styles of the game allow the gambler an opportunity to increase their winnings, in which instance another game is played. There are also differences among individual games, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other differing characteristics to increase playability.