How to Play
The objective of Video Poker is to
receive the highest ranked five card
poker hand possible.
Your account sum is automatically
transferred into credits in the
machine when the machine is selected
and removed when you exit the game.
You select the denomination in the
slot. The selected denomination will
be displayed on the machine.
Next, choose the total amount that
you wish to wager. Your cards will
be dealt automatically. If you use
the BET ONE button to select the
number of wagered coins, you must
press the DEAL button to receive
your cards. You may draw up to five
new cards to improve your hand. To
keep individual cards, click on the
cards or on the HOLD button. Then
when you press DEAL, you will
receive new cards in the positions
of the cards that were not held.
Your account sum is automatically
removed when you exit the game and
your money will be returned to your
total credit balance. You may also
cash out to receive your credits in
the machine by clicking on your
casino balance card to the right of
the machine. To exit the game room
and return to the main menu click on
the EXIT button.
The main attraction of video poker
is that the player's wits are pitted
against the machine in fast action
with a chance at a big jackpot.
To the skilled player, however, the
attraction is that some games offer
an opportunity for a long term
profit. Just as in a live poker
game, there is a considerable amount
of risk and luck involved in the
short term, but it is a player's
skill that will make the difference
between a winner and a loser in the
long run.
Video poker machines resemble the
traditional slot machine in several
ways, being housed in a similar
metal cabinet with similar locks,
most have a coin slot to accept your
bet and a coin hopper that pays out
your winnings. The most obvious
difference is that on a reel slot
the player wins when the symbols
stop with a particular combination,
such as three bars, while a video
poker player wins when the final
five cards form a recognizable poker
hand, such as a straight.
The most important difference,
however, is that the video poker
player has an opportunity to select
which cards to hold and then draw in
an attempt to improve the hand. A
certain degree of skill is required
in this selection process to achieve
the game's rated payback.
As in live table poker, the cards
are dealt from a standard 52 card
deck (53 in Joker Wild games) that
is well shuffled before each hand.
After being dealt your initial five
cards, you must decide which cards
to hold and which to discard in an
attempt to effect a winning poker
hand (or to improve an existing
winner) just as you would do in a
live draw poker game. But there the
similarity ends.
In video poker the house is banking
the game, yet the machine is not
trying to beat your hand. It's more
a like a game of solitaire.
Attempting to bluff or to "read"
your opponent is pointless since
there are no opponents.
You can't get a "bad beat" in video
poker. Your straight can't lose to
that flush on another player's
machine. It will always win
according to the payoff schedule.
Some plays that may sometimes be
correct in table poker become costly
mistakes in video poker. One of the
most common errors is holding onto
cards that would be useful in
straight poker but are in fact not
particularly useful in video poker.
Conversely, many plays that are
correct in video poker would be
wrong in live table poker. In some
cases, for example, it's correct to
draw to an inside straight. It is
primarily these characteristics that
lure most players into making bad
plays, thus making video poker a big
winner for the casino, even on games
that offer over 100% potential
payback
