Video Poker Guide - Rules and Strategies

Playing Online Video Poker is very similar to playing the novelty machines you would find in any bar or arcade. The only difference is that you are clicking a mouse, rather than pressing buttons or keys on a soft pad to choose a winning hand of cards. Some sites also offer progressive Video Poker that means that the jackpot is collected from different players in different online casinos owned by the same company and can offer a mammoth payoff with a minimum of betting.

When you choose to play Video Poker Online, a graphic image of the machine appears onscreen and a prompt will ask you to insert tokens or coins from your account. Some sites might just display a play button that you click on with your mouse and automatically deduct money from a counter that displays a running total amount.

Your objective in video poker is to get the best or highest hand possible. A series of five cards appear on your computer screen and it's up to you to decide which cards to keep. You can discard all the cards or keep any from one to five. There are usually five buttons displayed the front of the graphic of the online video slot machine. When you click on these buttons, the word "hold" will appear above those cards selected. Your objective is to try to manifest the best or highest hand possible. The winning hands in poker are described below.

You will then be prompted or asked to press the "Deal" button. The machine will flip new cards into the screens that you have chosen not to hold. If the result is a winning selection of cards than money or credits are awarded into your account. The idea is to keep hitting the "Deal" button until you feel you have enough credits to finally cash out. The credits usually equal the minimum amount required to play the machine, so if you are required to bet $10 to play then each credit awarded you is worth $10.

Here is a description of the winning hands in video poker:

ROYAL FLUSH
The highest possible ranked hand. To achieve this hand you need an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 of the same suit.

STRAIGHT FLUSH
Five cards of the same suit in ascending order.

FOUR OF A KIND
Four cards of the same rank. Example: Four Kings.

FLUSH
A hand containing five cards of the same suit. If two players have the same hand the winner is the player holding the highest valued cards.

STRAIGHT
Five cards of any suit in ascending order. The ace can be either high or low and the high straight wins the tie.

THREE OF A KIND
Three of a kind is simply three cards of the same rank.

TWO PAIR
Two sets of pairs of cards of an equal value.

PAIR
One pair of cards in a hand of an equal value.

HIGH CARD
Highest card takes all in the event there is a complete absence of the above hands.

Video Poker machines are supported in all kinds denominations anywhere from .25 to $100. You can opt to bet 1 time, 2 times and so forth up to ten times depending on what kind of machine you are playing with.

Easily one of the most addictive games in any casino, you are the judge of when you want to cash out with video poker. The idea is to keep hitting the "Deal" button until you feel you have enough credits to finally cash out.