Video poker is a much loved game, especially online Video Poker. It combines all the excitement of poker with the best parts of a slot machine, making it a highly entertaining and popular game for gamblers. One reason for its popularity is the fairness it offers its players. The house has no hidden edge and the machines are not tightened secretly.  Every draw comes from a newly shuffled deck, therefore giving each player choices and a good chance to win. In fact, Video Poker is one of the few casino games that might just give you a good payout. If you play a good machine the right way long enough, even online Video Poker guarantees a payout of more than you put into it.
 
If you know how to play poker, you can play Video Poker games. Your goal is to get the highest hand. But that’s where you leave what you know about table poker behind. In playing this version, you don’t raise, call or bluff. You are dealt 5 cards by the computer. Then you decide which ones you want to keep or get rid of. Any cards you choose to discard are replaced by the computer.  Then you have a new combination. The pay table is posted as to what the winners get.

The basic game of online Video Poker is Jacks or Better. This means that you must have at least 2 Jacks or higher to win. There are more Video Poker games to win at. Deuces Wild is a game where 2s count as any value that the player needs. Joker Poker uses a Joker as a wild card. Double Joker Poker puts 2 jokers in and Poker Frenzy deals cards in a way that makes it possible to get 5 cards of the same rank and suit. There are also many more of these variations on the game.

There are some instances that a minimum win requires 3 of a kind, kings or better, or 2 pairs. No matter what the game, playing online Video Poker is the same. You get 5 cards, decide whether to draw or hold your cards, and your hand either wins or loses.

There are quite a few differences between playing online Video Poker and playing live poker. Some of them are rather miniscule and others are rather significant. Following you will find a list of the more pertinent ones.

• Such actions as bluffing, sandbagging, check raise, and other strategies used in live poker don’t apply when playing Video Poker.
• There are several varieties of stud that are played in live poker that don’t have anything to do with Video Poker. Draw poker is the only variety that is used in both live and Video Poker.
• Anytime you want to play online Video Poker there’s a machine just waiting for you since it doesn’t need more than 1 player. Live poker needs a set amount of players to make the game.
• Another difference is in the hand rankings. They may be either very similar or totally different. Video Poker games might pay more for a straight than a 3 of a kind. Some of them pay the same for flushes and straights. In a live poker game, 4 6s pay more than 4 3s. In Video Poker they’re always the same.
• When playing online Video Poker, if you get a good hand, you can’t lose. There isn’t the threat of another player holding something better than you, such as in live poker.
• Video Poker only has 1 choice to be made. Live poker may have many betting rounds as well as many choices each round.
• Regular poker may put you in the position of losing a lot of money by taking risks. In Video Poker, you know from the start what the winning hands are worth.
• Live poker is most likely a great game for a psychologist while Video Poker is a challenge for mathematicians.
• In a live poker game, players can’t bring strategy cards or crib sheets to the table. However, these can be quite useful in playing Video Poker.
• A last difference is that you need to call “time” when playing live poker. Video Poker doesn’t need this at all.