Learn the Video Poker Rules for Many Variations
Video poker is one of the most well-known--and well-loved--games in any casino, whether online or off. Most of the versions of the game that can be found in casinos these days draw upon the rules of traditional Five Card Stud, and all of the variations of the game that players enjoy around their kitchen tables can also be found in poker machines. For the most part, gameplay is virtually simulated so that it is just like playing with real cards.
Of course, the biggest difference between video poker rules and traditional poker rules is that video poker is not played with a dealer or with any opponents at all. Rather, it is a completely simulated game in which the player merely goes up against the house -- similar to a slot machine. For the most part, the rules are easy to learn, and this is true despite the variation that the player chooses.
The most basic video poker game is known as Jacks or Better, and this is the one that most players will start out with. In essence, the objective is to create the best poker hand possible; however, players will not receive any payout at all unless they are successful in creating a hand that consists of at least one pair of Jacks. The processes behind obtaining the poker hands are quite easy and, as previously stated, draw upon Five Card Stud.
To get started, the player will choose an amount to bet on the hand and then click the 'Deal' button. Five virtual cards will appear at the bottom of the screen, and the player will need to evaluate these cards in order to determine which he or she should keep and which should be exchanged. There are numerous strategies for determining which hand to attempt to create based upon the cards that are initially dealt, and all of this information is readily available online. The payout scale is listed at the top of the screen, and the hands with the highest payouts are those that are the hardest to obtain.
Once the player has looked over his or her cards, choosing which to hold is as simple as clicking on them. Once this has been done and the player can see that the chosen cards have been marked with the word 'Hold', he or she then clicks the 'Deal' button again to exchange the cards that were not held. Once these new cards have been received, the machine automatically determines whether or not a poker hand has been created and pays out accordingly. The machine will always pay out for the highest hand created, as well.
There are many different variations of video poker available including Joker Poker in which a 54-card deck with two Jokers is used and the Jokers are wild, Tens or Better in which the player only needs to obtain a pair of 10s in order to receive a payout, Deuces Wild in which all of the twos in the 52-card deck are wild, and plenty of others that are sure to keep players entertained for hours on end.