Video Poker is a popular game that can be enjoyed in casinos throughout the world, or alternatively at your house on your computer, through a web account. The rules are very straightforward and involve the player trying to get the best mixture of cards achievable in order to come away with cash. On this account it’s very similar as a classic game of poker, apart from the interaction with competing players. Of course, tactics employed during a physical game of poker, such as tricking, will be useless in Video Poker.

The game of Video Poker starts when the enthusiast puts credits (either tokens, credit slips or cash) into the machine and presses the play button. A hand of 5 cards will be "handed out" on the video screen.

The Video Poker game also has buttons with ‘hold’ written on them, and enthusiasts should now pick which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the gambler would like to retain, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they light up. The player can choose to keep any amount of cards they wish, whether it’s all or none.

After the gambler has chosen which cards she would like to retain, they should press ‘deal’, at which point any fresh cards are dealt if desired. The round is now finished, with the Electronic Poker machine analyzing the cards to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands shown on the payment schedule.

Normally, the minimum succeeding hand on an Electronic Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money growing for each better hand. A list of common winning hands starts with jacks or better, moving on to 2 pairs, three 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 payment schedule can vary from game to game, so that discerning gamblers are agile enough to pick the most profitable game each time.

As soon as the initial round has played out, the player can either decide to continue on and try to to maximize their earnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any cash that might have been won. Further, a few styles of the game allow the player an opportunity to double their winnings, in which situation another round is played. There are also variations among specific machines, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other differing elements to increase playability.