Play Video Poker Online

Video Poker is a five-card poker game that is computerized. The video poker machine is similar in size to a slot machine. The earliest Video Poker machine was released in the mid 1970’s, and then become very popular in land casinos in the mid 1990’s and the online versions in the first years of 2000.

Basic Rules
The rules of Video Poker are very easy, but before you play, you want to make sure you completely understand all the rules and regulations. The best part about the game of Video Poker is you do not have to play against other players, which leads to less intimidation. Understand that once you have made your bet, and pressed deal, you cannot change to amount of bet. There is no doubling down, or anything of that measure. Some places do not let you throw away four cards, unless you have an ace. Be sure to check the machine to see if that is a rule where you elect to play.

How to Play
After you have inserted your money into a machine, either in person, or virtually online, you are ready to play the game. Press the deal button, and you will receive five cards. You then have a chance to discard 1 or more of them, in exchange for new cards. If you elect to keep all five of your cards, select hold on each card, or deal. Once you have selected the cards you want to exchange, press deal and your new cards will come to you. This is really the only choice you have in Video Poker, is to keep your cards, or get new ones. After the hand is over, the machine will pay you your winnings, or take out your bet, since you lost. After it is over, you are ready for the next hand. Video Poker can move very fast, which can be good or bad, depending on what type of gambler you are. Most games play jacks or better, so if you have a pair of 5’s, or 7’s, those are not good, unless you can get a third one.

A lot of times, players will keep their top card, if it’s jack or better in hopes of getting another one. There is also a deuces wild variation of the game, where deuces (2’s) are considered a wild card, and definitely want to be kept. When wild cards are available, the payouts decrease, due to the chances of getting a bigger hand increasing. Along with deuces wild, there are also jokers wild poker, where if you receive a joker, that is also a wild. Like deuces, the payout scale changes a bit with this game.

Payouts and Odds
The payouts for Video Poker are similar to most poker games, but heavily depend on how many credits you play. Here is a listing of the hands, and what the pay-outs would be at the minimum credit played, and then also the maximum credit. A Royal Flush, if you were only playing 1 credit would pay out 250 – and from there, all the way up to 5 credits, it would increase by 250. So for example, 2 credits = 500, 3 credits = 750, 4 credits = 1000. The next, would be a straight flush. This works the same way – 1 credit = 50, and 5 credits = 250. In between, from 2 – 4, it would increase by 50. Third, Four of a kind. 1 credit = 25 for a four of a kind. This also goes up by 25’s, all the way up to 125 for five credits. Full House = 9. Flush = 6. Straight = 4. 3 of a kind = 4 . Two Pair = 2. Jacks or Better = 1. What this means – if your credits are worth $2, and you won 25 credits that would equal to $50. There are also versions for Deuces Wild, Double Bonus and Double Double Bonus that have different payouts as well.