video poker machines are among the oldest and most common games in both live and online casinos. Video poker is a fairly simple game that comes in many different variations such as Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, Joker Poker and many others. 

The rules of video poker are quite easy to understand, especially if you are a poker player already and you understand the hand rankings, draws and card values. Keep reading and find out exactly what the rules of video poker are and how you can make the best of your video poker playing experience. 

Video Poker Hand Rankings

Video poker games share the hand rankings with most other poker games. In most popular video poker variations, the poker hands are ranked as follows:

-    One Pair
-    Two Pair
-    Three of a Kind
-    Straight
-    Flush
-    Full House
-    Four of a Kind
-    Straight Flush
-    Royal Flush

Some versions of video poker include wild cards, which can create hands like five of a kind or a wild royal flush. In other cases, such as in deuces wild, having wild cards in the deck can make hands like straight or flush more valuable than a full house. Each game has its own paytable, which you should consult before you start playing. 

Video Poker Payouts

All payouts in any game of video poker are done according to a pre-set paytable, which shows the monetary value of each possible hand. For instance, in a game of Jacks or Better, the player will receive the exact value of their initial bet when holding a pair higher than jacks, but will get up to 4.000 coins when holding a royal flush in their hand. 

Since there are no other players or dealer in the game of video poker, the player is not competing against anyone, but is rather playing against the paytable, hoping to hit hands that rank as high as possible on the paytable. When playing video poker, each individual game will have some rules of its own, such as certain cards substituting for all other cards, which is why you should always learn the exact rules of the particular game before you get spinning.