Video Poker Rules

The basic rules of video poker are the same for all the game variations you can play. You click "Deal" and you are going to be dealt five cards on your screen, and when you get them, you are going to be faced with a decision as to whether you are going to hold the cards or get rid of them in the pursuit of improving your hand. As you come across the cards that you want to hold onto, you click underneath those cards on the "Hold" button and those cards will be retained.

Then you click "Draw" and you will have your hand replenished with replacement cards. After they are dealt, you are then left with your final hand, and immediately there will be a determination as to whether you are a winner. The return on each of the winning hands is listed in clear view on the pay table, which is located right in front of you.

There are different rules for the different video poker variations, and those rules will not only have an effect on the payouts for various winning combinations, but also the strategy that you employ when you are playing. For example, there is a variation called "Deuces Wild" in which, well, deuces, or twos (2's) are wild, which means they can be used to complete winning combinations. Obviously the way you play your hands is going to be impacted by that, as you will hold onto the 2's and will be seeking them out as well. On the pay table, you're going to see that hands that include a 2 are very valuable, including a Royal Flush that is attained with the help of a 2 (which is different than the so-called "natural" Royal Flush).

In the variation that is known as Joker Poker, there is a Joker which is wild, and the rules are naturally different because instead of the game being dealt from a 52-card deck, the deck consists of 52 cards plus the number of Jokers that are available. The most "standard" form of video poker is Jacks or Better, where the prevailing rule is that you cannot get paid on any pair that isn't at least as good as a pair of Jacks.

There are a host of variations that can be played in video poker. Many of the casinos have a dozen variations or more. Much of it depends on the software provider they are using.