The basic rules of Video Poker are very much the same as the rules of standard poker games. In structure, however, Video Poker Rules are very similar to slot machine rules, especially multiple spin machines.
Video Poke
A player has to engage the machine at least twice during any game (the player acts twice and the machine acts twice). If a hand wins, this can increase, as in Video Poker, the player is given a chance to double his / her winnings by means of a high card showdown.
Types of Video Poker Rules
Out of the several types of Video Poker Rules available, the three most common sets are “Jacks or Better” (the original one), “Deuces Wild” and “Jokers Wild”. Most of these have progressive jackpots (jackpots shared by groups of linked games, who all contribute to the pot), which pay out when a “Royal Flush” gets hit. Generally, all games from a specific software provider will have the same rules. Games will only change in appearance and branding as the different casinos will market their own brand on the games. The only major difference between the games is the payout tables.
When a player loads a Video Poker game, 4 buttons appear: “Bet One”, “Bet Max”, “Deal” and “Plus / Minus” buttons. Bet One: The player bets $1. Bet Max: The player bets $5. Deal: The dealer deals. Plus / Minus buttons: The player uses these buttons to fine-tune or adjust the bet i.e. hitting the “Plus” button will increase the bet by $1 and hitting the “Minus” button will decrease the bet by $1.
After placing the bet, the player must hit the deal button, which will make the machine deal 5 cards to the player, according to the Video Poker Rules. After the cards have been dealt, buttons underneath each card with the word “HOLD” on them will appear. The player then selects these buttons according to the cards he/she wants to hold. When a card is selected to be held, the wording on the button will change to “HELD”. The player then hits the deal button (New bigger one) again which will replace the cards not selected to be held with new ones. The winnings get paid out immediately according to the payout tables of the game.
If a player wins a game, he/she is offered a chance to double their winnings by means of a high card showdown. The machine randomly deals 5 cards and selects 1 from the face-down cards. The card is revealed and the player gets a chance to select a card from the remaining 4 face-down cards. If the player’s card is higher than the one picked out by the machine, the player doubles his winnings. This goes on until the player decides to cash out or he/she picks a lower card, in which case they lose the entire pot, including the original wager.
According to the Video Poker Rules, this is the ranking of cards from low to high:
A pair – two of the same kind or value (3,3,8,10, J, K)
Two pairs – two sets of two of the same kind or value (4,4,7,7,9)
Three of a kind – three of the same kind or value (5,5,5, J, Q)
Straight – all cards in numerical order (4,5,6,7,8)
Flush – all cards of the same suit (2s,5s,7s,9s,6s – s = Spades)
Full house – a pair and three of a kind or value in one hand (4,4,7,7,7)
Four of a kind – four of the same kind or value (9,9,9,9, J)
Straight flush – a combination of a straight and a flush where all the cards are from the same suit and also fall in numerical order (2d,3d,4d,5d,6d – d = Diamonds)
Royal flush – the highest straight flush you can get (10h, Jh, Qh, Kh, Ah – h = Hearts)