[ English ]

Electronic Poker is a popular game that can be played in casinos all over the world, or alternatively at your house on your home computer, using an Internet connection. The rules are absolutely straightforward and involve the player trying to get the greatest mixture of cards possible in order to come away with money. In this respect it’s much the same as a normal game of poker, minus the line of contact with other players. Of course, methods employed during a real-life game of poker, like bluffing, will be useless here.

The game of Video Poker starts when the bettor inserts credits (whether it’s tokens, tickets or cash) into the video poker machine and pushes the draw button. A hand of 5 cards will then be "distributed" on the screen.

The Electronic Poker machine also has hold buttons, and enthusiasts will need to now pick which cards to keep and which to discard. For the cards the player would like to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can decide to keep any number of cards they wish, whether it is all or none.

After the gambler has chosen which cards he or she would like to keep, the player will then press ‘deal’, at which point any new cards will be needed they will be given out. The game is now finished, with the Electronic Poker machine scanning the cards to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands shown on the payout schedule.

Typically, the lowest winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money growing for each better hand. A common list of winning hands begins 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 finally royal flushes. It definitely goes without saying that the pay out schedule can change from machine to machine, so that skillful gamblers are able to choose the most profitable machine each and every time.

Once the initial round has completed, the player can either choose to remain on in an attempt to increase their winnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any cash that they may have won. Further, several styles of the game give the gambler a chance to increase their wins, in which instance a further game is played. There are also variations among individual machines, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other differing elements to increase playability.