For many years, the only way to play poker was at a table with several players. However, with the popularization of the game, and advances in technology, many new variants are now available, including video poker.In video poker, the player has the possibility to play alone, having as “opponent” the computer or machine in front of him. It is easy then to understand that the success of this variant is due to the fact that players can play and train whenever they want, without having to depend on other players.The first versions of this game appeared in the 70s and were machines very similar to slot machines. Nowadays, there are many online casinos with video poker in their catalogue. The Rules of Video Poker are very simple and easy to understand.

The game works as follows: the player will initially receive 5 cards. From these 5 cards, the player must choose which ones he wants to keep and which ones he wants to discard. Then, the player receives as many cards as those he discarded, thus obtaining his final hand.Let’s go to an example to make everything clearer. Suppose a player is dealt the following combination of cards: 4 spades, 6 spades, 7 diamonds, K hearts, K diamonds. The player then decides to discard the 3 cards 4, 6 and 7. As he discarded 3 cards, he will receive 3 new cards.Assuming that, for example, the new cards he was dealt were 5 spades, 6 clubs and K clubs, the player got a set of kings, receiving a prize according to that combination.

At most online casinos, the procedure for betting is as follows:

Choose your bet amount;
Click on the “Deal” button to receive your starting hand;
Choose the cards you want to keep;
Click on the “Hold” button to receive the new cards;
Check your final hand;
Receive prize if your hand is strong enough.

Video poker hands are exactly the same as table poker hands. That way, if you play poker, you won’t have to worry about memorizing more combinations.The most powerful combination is the “Royal Flush”, which consists of getting the highest 5 cards in the game (A, K, Q, J and 10), consecutively and all of the same suit. This combination is extremely difficult to obtain and, therefore, has a very high payout, as we demonstrate in the next topic.