TEXHOLDEMTOURNAMENT

Playing the Video Poker Machine

Playing by Coin

On every video poker machine will be a coin slot, called a coin entry, or coin acceptor. The coin entry is where you insert your coins into the machine to initiate action. On the typical machine, you can put anywhere from one coin to five coins to initiate play. However, if you try to put more than five coins in the machine, it will immediately return the extra coins back into the coin tray. For example, if six coins were placed into a machine, the extra coin will drop out the bottom, to be returned to the player.

Playing by Credits

Depositing coins into the machine is not the only way to play the slots, you can also play on credits. Once you have credits, spinning the reels at slots is as easy as easy could be. On every machine, you'll see a button marked "Play Max Coins," "Play Five Coins," or similar buttons indicating that you can use your credits to play. This button will typically be found on the right side of the machine near the coin acceptor, the area of the machine most convenient for easy play. You can expect this button to be large and easily visible.

Pressing this button automatically deals the cards if you have credits available. Experienced players use this button as if it were a speed dial. Press, result, press, result, press, result. They'll run through hands like a car racer navigating a speedway. Serious players love the credit button for its ease of play and speed. You'll find it a great feature too.

If no credits are available, pressing this button won't activate anything. Only money walks. To get things going again, you'll need to deposit more coins into the coin slot, or slide another bill into the hungry machine.

Establishing Credits

There are two ways to establish credits at a machine. The basic way of building credits is by simply putting coins in the machine. Once coins are in, you can play. Now, with the new bill acceptors inserted into the latest versions of machines, you can immediately establish credits by inserting a $20 or $100, for example, into the machine. These credits will register on the display of the machine marked "Credits."

The second way is to earn these credits through wins. After every win, the amount won automatically gets credited to your total. This amount will be posted underneath the area marked "credits." For example, if you win 20 credits, the number "20" will be posted to your credits. If you already had 50 credits accrued, then the win of 20 would bump up that total to "70."

You can play on these credits as long as you have them or cash out at any time by pressing the "Cash Out" button. Pressing the Cash Out button will release the coins into the drop slot below. When there are a lot of coins won, the resultant noise will be a loud thunder of coins dropping, a commotion sure to raise the excitement level of all players within earshot of this winning hullabaloo.

If more coins are won than the machine will pay out, an attendant will come by to pay the rest or get a manager to authorize that payment. Usually, the maximum number of coins that the machine will pay for winners is posted right on the machine itself. It will also state that the attendant will pay the remainder. If that is the case, do not leave your machine if you hit a big winner always wait until the attendant arrives to give you your winnings.

The casinos love players who play on credits and encourage as many of them as they can to do so. The reason is simple. Players who play on credits play at a speed many multiples faster than one fishing around for coins to get every play started. The faster the machines are played, the more bets end up being played per hour. And that translates directly into more profits for the casinos against players who are not armed with winning strategies.

On the other hand, more hands per hour also add up to more profits for the prepared player.