Video Poker has become increasingly popular. It is very similar to a single-line video slot game. First, we explain the difference between poker and video poker.
Poker is the common card game played on poker tables in the land-based casinos or virtual tables in online casinos and virtual poker rooms, while video poker is more like casino slot machines where you have a screen with symbols and the goal is to hit a winning combination of symbols on a line, but in the case of video poker it's instead a winning poker hand combination.
In video poker, the player has as much control as in table poker. You can choose how much to bet and win several times that amount if you play skillfully and have lady luck on your side. If playing for the maximum amount of bets with perfect strategy, some video pokers have a payout ratio of slightly over 100%!
The video poker share the same rules as standard 5-hand table poker, but that's where the similarities end. The format is completely different. If you are an experienced poker player you will have no problem playing video poker right away. A complete novice will have to learn the poker hand ratings before
attempting to play video poker.
As
B29 stated, the rules of video poker are virtually identical to regular 5-card draw poker: you have one or more hands, and the goal is to get a poker combination of cards in each hand that will earn you money. There are many variations, but generally the minimum payout hand is a pair of jacks (Jacks or Better), and the maximum is, of course, the Royal Flush, which sometimes comes with a progressive jackpot. In between, as in regular table poker,: Two pairs, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush. You may also find a Low Royal Flush (2-3-4-5-6) in some variations.
To play video poker, simply go to an online gaming sites that offers this type of game, such as an online casino. Once you open a video poker game, choose your coin size and how many coins to gamble (most video poker games allow you to select 1-5 coins). After you press "Deal" you get five cards.
You must make a 5-card poker hand from five cards dealt. Each hand has a winning payout according to the game's paytable. When the cards are dealt, you can choose to keep (Hold) none, some, or all of your cards. Then you click on the Deal button to pull new cards from the deck to give you your final hand.
Many of the best video poker versions have more lines (hands) available -- it can go up to 100 hands per game!
How To PlayYou place a bet of one or more (as mentioned, usually 1 to 5) credits on a video poker machine and hand out the cards by pressing the "Deal" button. You can then choose to keep or discard one or more of the cards to be exchanged for new cards drawn from the deck, after which the video poker game will give you a payment if you have a winning hand. The payout table of the winning hands are always displayed on the screen, or else in a separate screen which you can access by clicking on the "Paytable" button.
Double or NothingIn many video poker gaming machines, there is a double (and double half) "gamble" feature, where you can double (or lose!) each win. Once you have a winning hand, you can choose to "double", "double half" or "Collect" your win. The choice of "double" will draw one card face up, and lets you select one of the other face-down cards. If the card you choose is lower than the card face up, you lose your original win. If it is higher, you will double it and can choose to double again or collect the amount. It is recommended to never double a second time, given that the chance of winning twice is only 25%. Selecting the "double half" option will collect half of the win and use the other half to play the "double" mini-game.