Video Poker is a beloved game that can be gambled on in casinos around the world, or in your house on your PC, through a net account. The rules are very straightforward and consist of the player trying to get the highest mixture of cards possible in order to acquire cash. In this respect it is much the same as a classic game of poker, minus the line of contact with any other players. Of course, techniques used in a physical game of poker, like tricking, will be irrelevant here.

The game of Video Poker begins when the player puts credits (whether it’s tokens, tickets or money) into the video poker machine and pushes the play button. A 5 card hand will then be "handed out" on the video screen.

The Video Poker game also has buttons with ‘hold’ printed on them, and gamblers should now pick which cards to keep and which to throw away. For the cards the gambler would like to keep, 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 is all or none.

After the gambler has selected which cards she would like to retain, they should press ‘draw’, at which point any fresh cards will be given out if desired. The game is now finished, with the Video Poker machine analyzing the cards to see if it is the same as any of the winning hands shown on the pay out schedule.

Generally, the minimum succeeding hand on an Electronic Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the award money growing for each better hand. A common list of winning hands begins with jacks or better, and moves on to 2 pairs, 3 of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kinds, straight flushes and finally royal flushes. It is obvious that the payout schedule can change from machine to machine, so that discerning enthusiasts are able to select the most beneficial machine each time.

After the first round has played out, the player can either choose to remain on and try to to maximize their winnings, or they can press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any money that might have been won. Additionally, some versions of the game give the enthusiast a chance to double their winnings, in which case a further game is played. There are also differences between individual machines, with some decks of cards including wild cards and other differing elements to enhance playability.