Background

Online video poker has a wide variety of game options (written about below), but the most common variety of game is based on five-card draw. Even players that are not familiar with traditional poker should be able to pick up on the rules very quickly. Online video poker is similar to traditional poker because players can choose to bet, call, or fold their hand and have complete control of each game. Most sites will offer up free plays. These give players the option to test out each poker game before deciding on the one that is right for them to place a bet on.

How To Play

The game begins with the player placing an initial bet and pressing deal. Once the player hits the deal button, they are dealt five cards. The player then chooses which cards to keep and which to discard. The player can discard all of their cards, none of their cards, or anywhere in between. Before discarding, the player can choose to place more money on their hand if they are confident in their chances of winning. Once the cards are discarded, betting stops and the cards are replaced with new ones. The game will pay out for all winning hands.

How To Win

Players will win based on their final hands. The exact amount of each payout will vary based on the hand. The hands are ranked below from worst to best. The better the hand, the better the payout will be. 

• Pair: This hand has two cards of equal value.
• Two Pairs: This hand has two sets of two cards of equal value.
• Three-of-a-Kind: This hand has three cards of equal value.
• Straight: This hand has five consecutive cards but different suits. For example, a straight could be a 5 of Clubs, 6 of Hearts, 7 of Clubs, 8 of Spades, and 9 of Diamonds.
• Flush: This hand has five non-consecutive cards of the same suit. For example, a flush could be a 2, 5, 7, 10, and Queen of Hearts.
• Full House: This hand has one pair and one three-of-a-kind.
• Four-of-a-Kind: This hand has four cards of equal value.
• Straight Flush: This hand has five consecutive cards of the same suit. For example, a straight flush could be a 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of Spades.
• Royal Flush: This hand has the ten through ace of the same suit in consecutive sequence. For example, a royal flush could be a ten, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of Diamonds.

Other Game Options

The other game options of online video poker largely follow the same rules but have small twists included.

• Wild Poker: Wild poker is a variation of the game in which there is a wild card that can represent any other card in the deck to help win a hand. Most versions of wild poker are Deuces Wild in which the 2 is the wild card, but Joker Poker is another common version that uses the Joker as the wild card.
• Bonus Poker: This game has the same rules as five card draw but includes a feature in which the jackpots are very high for a Royal Flush.
• Progressive Jackpots: Progressive jackpots are played the same way as bonus poker except that the jackpot increases each hand based on the wagers made by the player.
• Jacks or Better: Jacks or Better has the same rules as five card draw but the lowest hand that will pay out is a pair of Jacks. Pairs lower than Jacks are discounted. Another common version of this is Tens or Better which has the same rules except with Tens instead of Jacks.
• Pick’em Poker: In pick’em poker, a player is dealt just two cards and gets to choose their other three blindly from two stacks of three cards.
• Multi Hand Poker: In multi hand poker, the player can play up to 100 hands at once. This version of poker works exactly the same as five card draw with the player dealt five cards initially. The player will then choose which cards to keep and which to discard. The cards they keep are then carried over into every hand. Each hand is played with a different deck, and the player will be paid out for each hand that they win.