Video Poker is a popular game that is able to be wagered on in casinos around the world, or alternatively at your house on your home computer, through an Internet account. The game rules are absolutely straightforward and consist of the player attempting to get the best mixture of cards as you can in order to acquire money. In this respect it’s very similar as a normal game of poker, without the involvement with any other players. Of course, techniques employed during a physical game of poker, like tricking, will be irrelevant in Video Poker.

The game of Video Poker starts when the gambler puts credits (either tokens, credit slips or money) into the machine and pushes the deal button. A hand of five cards will be "dealt" on the screen.

The Electronic Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ written on them, and enthusiasts should now decide which cards to hold and which to throw away. For the cards the bettor would like to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they illuminate. The player can choose to keep any number of cards they wish, from all to none.

After the gambler has selected which cards he or she wishes to keep, the player will then press ‘deal’, which will mean that any fresh cards are needed they will be given out. The hand is now finished, with the Electronic Poker machine scanning the cards to see if it matches any of the winning hands printed on the payout schedule.

Normally, the minimum succeeding 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 starts with jacks or better, moving on to 2 pairs, three of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, 4 of a kinds, straight flushes and last but not least royal flushes. It goes without saying that the payout schedule can change from machine to machine, so that discerning bettors are able to select the most money-making machine every instance.

As soon as the first round has played out, the player can either choose to stay on and try to to maximize their winnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to cash out any money that they may have won. Further, some versions of the game give the bettor a chance to double their wins, in which instance another game is played. There are also variations between individual games, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other differing aspects to increase playability.