Electronic Poker is a popular game that is able to be enjoyed in casinos throughout the globe, or alternatively at your house on your home computer, using an Internet connection. The game rules are absolutely straightforward and involve the player attempting to achieve the best assemblage of cards achievable in order to come away with cash. In this respect it is very similar as a normal game of poker, apart from the involvement with any other players. Of course, techniques used in a real-life game of poker, such as tricking, will be useless here.
The game of Electronic Poker begins when the enthusiast inserts credits (either tokens, tickets or cash) into the machine and presses the deal button. A hand of 5 cards will be "distributed" on the video screen.
The Electronic Poker machine also has hold buttons, and players will need to now choose which cards to keep and which to discard. For the cards the player wishes to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons need to be pressed so that they light up. The player can choose to keep any number of cards they want, whether it’s all or none.
After the enthusiast has chosen which cards she would like to retain, they should press ‘deal’, at which point any new cards are dealt if desired. The game is now completed, with the Electronic Poker machine scanning the cards to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands listed in the pay out schedule.
Generally, the minimum winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money increasing for each and every better hand. A common list of winning hands starts with jacks or better, and moves on to two pairs, three of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, four 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 discerning players are agile enough to choose the most money-making ones every time.
Once the initial round has finished, the player can either choose to stay on in an attempt to increase their winnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any credits that have been won. Additionally, a few versions of the game give the gambler a chance to double their winnings, in which case a further round is played. There are also differences between individual machines, with some virtual decks having wild cards and other differing elements to enhance playability.