How to Play Video Poker

Video poker is essentially 5 card draw poker, played against a machine. Since player personalities, tells and bluffing are not involved, video poker is a game of pure mathematics. While there are slightly different methods of play and strategies for different video poker variations, basic game play is as follows.

1. Choose how many coins (aka credits) you are going to wager. This is typically 1 to 5, but some games give you the option of betting up to 10 or 20.
   
   Betting the maximum credits maximizes your payouts if you win. Betting smaller amounts will limit your winnings but will also minimize your losses.
   
2. Click the DEAL button.
   
3. Check your cards to see if you have a winning combination. Refer to the payout table, if necessary.
   
4. Select which cards you want to hold (keep).
   
   In multi-hand games of video poker, clicking on the first row of the first hand will usually hold the entire column.
   
5. Click DRAW. Cards which were not held will be replaced with new cards.
   
6. Click DEAL to start the next hand.