Basic Information

Video Poker was first introduced to the gaming public during the 1970's when Las Vegas experienced financial difficulties because of the oil embargo. As word spread about this new game, players flocked to the casinos to give them a try. The casinos quickly installed more and more machines and before you knew it Las Vegas was back on the road to recovery.Video Poker is so popular because it combines aspects of both luck and skill. There is no hidden house advantage and no secretly tight machines to deal with as with slot machines. Every draw begins with a fresh deck of shuffled cards. Certain video poker machines actually have a positive financial expectation if played perfectly for long enough.If you know how to play poker then you know the basics of video poker. Most video poker machines are based on five card draw poker. Players are dealt five cards initially and can throw out any or all of them to improve their hand. New cards are dealt to replace those discarded. The final five cards after the draw determine whether or not you get paid and if so how much.Jacks or better is the most popular form of video poker machine available. When playing this type of machine, the player wins if their final five card hand contains at least a pair of jacks or better. Jacks or better was the original form of video poker, but newer versions include Deuces Wild, Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, Joker's Wild, Poker Frenzy and others.With video poker your goal is not to beat a fellow player as in a live game of poker, rather your goal is to win by holding one of the five card winning combinations listed in our winning hands section. Typical video poker machines are about the same size as a regular slot machine and come in a desktop or tabletop configuration. Some newer models offer multiple versions of video poker as well as different games altogether such as slot machines, video keno and blackjack.Video poker machines come in many denominations from nickels to five dollars machines. Insert your money either in coins or if available as a bill in the cash slot. Make sure the cash/credit button is lit so that you can play credits instead of having to manually insert additional coins or bills to play each hand.

Press the MAX CREDIT button. Never play video poker with less than the maximum amount of coins. Once you make your bet, five cards are dealt to you. Decide which cards you wish to keep by pressing the appropriate HOLD button or on some newer machines touching the appropriate cards directly on the touch screen. The "held" cards will remain and the others will be replaced with new cards. This new set of cards represents your final hand.