Video Poker is a favored game that is able to be enjoyed in casinos all over the world, or in your house on your personal computer, through an Internet connection. The rules are absolutely simple and involve the player trying to achieve the greatest combination of cards possible in order to win money. In this respect it is very similar as a normal game of poker, without the line of contact with any other players. Of course, techniques employed during a real-life game of poker, like tricking, will be useless here.

The game of Electronic Poker begins when the bettor inserts credits (either tokens, credit slips or cash) into the machine and presses the deal button. A hand of five cards will be "handed out" on the video screen.

The Video Poker machine also has hold buttons, and players should now decide which cards to hold and which to throw away. For the cards the bettor would like to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons must be pressed so that they light up. The player can choose to keep any number of cards they wish, whether it is all or none.

After the gambler has decided on which cards she would like to keep, the player will then press ‘draw’, at which point any new cards are handed out if desired. The round is now completed, with the Electronic Poker machine analyzing the cards to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands listed in the pay out schedule.

Normally, the lowest succeeding hand on an Electronic Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money getting larger for each better hand. A common list of winning hands starts with jacks or better, moving on to two pairs, 3 of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, 4 of a kinds, straight flushes and finally royal flushes. It is obvious that the pay out schedule can vary from machine to machine, so that discerning bettors are able to select the most profitable machine each instance.

After the initial round has finished, the player can either decide to stay on and try to to maximize their winnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any credits that they may have won. Additionally, some styles of the game give the gambler an opportunity to double their winnings, in which instance a further hand is played. There are also variations among specific machines, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other varying characteristics to enhance playability.