A basic guide to Video Poker in casinos and online. 

Video poker is a combination of five-card draw poker and a slot machine. You can play it in casinos across the nation, or in your pajamas at your PC.

Video poker is named so because in this game a person plays against a machine that displays the player's poker hand.

The rules to this game are easy. A player is paid depending on the quality of his or her poker hand. There is an initial round where the player is dealt five cards. The player then decides which cards to hold and which cards to discard. The discard cards are then replaced giving the player his or her final poker hand. If the player wins, he or she is paid out according to a fixed table of odds based on his or her poker hand. Generally one would need a pair of jacks or better to win. If the player has a worse hand then his, he or she would lose.

There are many different versions of video poker. The two most popular are:

Jacks or Better

In this version a player would need a pair of jacks of better to win. Some of these machines offer wild card, some don't. So be sure to check if wild cards or offered first before you start playing.

Dueces Wild

In this version deuces are a wild card. A player would usually need three of a kind or "trips" to win on this machine. . Some of these machines offer wild card, some don't. So be sure to check if wild cards or offered first before you start playing.

Of course the payout varies between these two games and many even vary between different machines! Be sure to check the machines around you to see which ones have the best payouts. In some games there is a progressive jackpot which is won by a high hand, like a royal flush. The size of the available jackpot then affects whether the game is worthwhile playing.