How is video poker usually played?
Now that we’ve explained table poker in general, it is time to do the same for video poker.
The game is initiated, when a player takes a seat in front of a video poker machine and deposits coins, bills, or a cash ticket (in dependence on the machine itself). We shall dedicate some time to the specific features of a video poker machine at a later time.
After the player has made their deposit, they need to press the ”Max Bet” or ”Bet One Credit” buttons. They will see the images of five cards appearing on the screen. Once the player has seen their hand, they have two options, to keep the hand the way it is, or to boost it by replacing from one to five of the cards. In order to get new cards, the player simply needs to select the cards they wish to keep. In case they play on older video poker machines, in order to keep a card, the player needs to press the ”Hold/Cancel” button located below the image of the particular card.
In case they play on more recent models of machines, to keep a card, the player may either press the ”Hold/Cancel” button or touch the image of the card on the screen. After that, the player needs to press the ”Deal/Draw” button and the machine will show their final hand. With the final hand appearing on the screen, the game is over. In case this hand turns out to be winning, the player will be paid automatically in accordance with the pay table for this particular game. The stronger the hand, the larger the amount paid.
Table Poker and Video Poker – a comparison
Every table poker player, who is about to enjoy their first experience at video poker, needs to be aware that the two games differ from one another. A person, who perceives video poker simply as an electronic version of table poker and makes decisions, based on that thought, will be faced with an unpleasant surprise. However, a person, who knows the unique features of video poker, has a greater potential to understand and implement successfully a particular video poker strategy. Let us outline the differences between the two games.
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First, when one plays table poker, their hand needs to be better than the hands held by the remaining participants in the game. When it comes to video poker, however, the hand a player is holding needs to match a particular winning combination on the pay table. In video poker, you are the only player, while the machine does not attempt to beat the hand you are holding.
Second, when one plays table poker, they will usually attempt to boost their chance of success by bluffing, for example, or with the help of other psychological approaches. As video poker is played on a machine, one can guess that psychological tricks are pointless.
The Game of Video Poker
Jacks or Better, Bonus Poker, Deuces Wild
Double Bonus, Pick’em Poker
Ranking Hands Video Poker
Video Poker Machine Appearance
Third, all table poker games feature several betting rounds. In the case with video poker, quite too often, a player places their bet only once, with the insertion of coins in the machine at the very beginning of the game or by pressing a button, that shows the size of the bet.
Fourth, in table poker games one of the players always emerges as a winner. One is able to win the game, even they don’t possess one pair, as long as their hand is superior compared to the hands by the remaining players in the game. In the case of video poker, the player wins, if their hand matches a hand pointed out on the pay table.
Fifth, in table poker games it does not matter whether a player emerges a winner with a low hand or with a high hand. For instance, a player, holding a Royal Flush, will not earn a larger amount of money, than if they held One Pair. In the case with video poker, the higher the rank of the hand, the larger the amount they will earn.
Sixth, in table poker, if it happens that two participants hold one and the same winning combination, say a Full House, the particular cards in each of the two hands are the factor to determine who the winner is. If two participants hold a Full House, the player having the highest Three of a Kind portion of the Full House will be the winner. In the case with video poker, the player will earn the amount of money on the pay table, stated for the respective winning combination. For example, all Full Houses will reward the player with one and the same amount, if, of course, there is not something else noted on the pay table.
Seventh, in table poker games, in order to state their hand in front of the other players and the dealer, one usually puts the cards in their hand on the table in sequential order. On the other hand, in video poker, such an action is impossible, since there are no physical cards.
And last but not least, at times a player may turn out to be holding a Sequential Royal. This is actually a Royal Flush, where the cards are visualized on the screen either in a descending order (A, K, Q, J, 10) or in ascending order (10, J, Q, K, A). Since such a combination is quite rare, there are video poker games, that may have additional jackpots for Sequential Royals. In the case with table poker, there is no such name for a combination, because a player can always physically arrange the cards in the hand in sequential order.
