The past few decades have seen an amazing growth in the popularity of poker. Late night viewing on television channels seems almost incomplete without a UK or American based tournament being shown. Sky even has its own poker channel now and the game continues to become more and more popular.

Online poker has of course seen similar success but it’s a different type of battle when playing on the internet rather than down your local casino or in the pub when it’s poker night. There’s no need to go out and get a pair of sunglasses ready to try and hide your expressions when facing your opponents.

That poker face you’ve perfected isn’t going to be much help when you can’t see your opposition and they can’t see you.

As well as online tournaments, Video Poker has become incredibly successful. This version of the game has been around in one form or another since the 1980s. As you might imagine, the technology used back then wasn’t a patch on what we have now. Hand held games eventually became games that could be played on your computer and on your mobile devices. Casinos love them too and they have always proved to be a very popular game to play.

Any version of poker needs to include plenty of concentration, and that brain of yours has to be working full-time and probably overtime if you want to avoid making stupid mistakes that you’ll regret later.

Just like with slot machines online, there are plenty of video poker games for you to play. Here you’re not playing against any devious opponent who may be trying to get money out of you when they have a poor hand though, as bluffing isn’t the name of the game here.

Experience is always an important part of any game and that’s definitely the case when you are playing online video poker. Why start playing a game for cash when you can get some free games under your belt? Have a good read of the paytable and learn exactly how the game works. Then use that knowledge when playing some games that are totally free and learn just how you can win money on the game.

You’ll also be able to make mistakes and lose in those games knowing it won’t cost you a single penny. Then, when you’re ready, you’ll be able to use that experience to your advantage when taking the plunge and playing for real.

Take the video poker game ‘Aces and Eights’ for example, which can be played for free on this site. Your first important decision is deciding your stake and protecting your all-important account balance. Of course in a free game it’s not real cash but it’s good experience to get knowing how much to stake, when to increase and decrease stakes etc.

Just like in real poker, your aim is to get certain hands, whether that be three of a kind (three Aces for example) or a Full House (three of a kind and a pair). But how you get those hands is very different from when you play poker with your friends so that’s why free games are really important to you.

You start off being dealt five cards and then your decision is to decide which of those to hold. You might be close to a straight or a flush for example, so hold the cards that just need a bit more assistance to get you to the promised land.

Then you ask for more cards to be dealt and the resulting hand will decide whether you’re a winner or not. Very different game indeed and no sign of any bidding in order to take your opponents out of the game.

There’s also a gamble feature where you have one card revealed and then have to simply pick another one and when it’s revealed you hope its higher than the dealer’s card. If it is you double your win if not, you wave goodbye to it. Some free games will definitely show you just how difficult it is to keep getting wins in that format, all excellent experience for when you play for real.

There are a number of gaming companies who produce successful video poker games and we have several of them for you to play on our site totally free. Microgaming have been producing a string of excellent games for nearly two decades now, and it’s not just slot machines they specialize, as they also lead the way in video poker.

Aces and Eights is one of Microgaming’s most popular video poker slot games, but if you want to experience something other variations of the game, you can check these out.

Jacks or Better

Sevens Wild

Deuces Wild

All American

The Extra Card

Another one of their games is ‘Joker Poker’. This has 53 rather than 52 cards with the joker coming in as a wild symbol. This means it can substitute for other playing cards and that can lead to winning combinations being achieved. Again playing for free on our site will build up your experience of this variation of the game.

It’s not always the joker that is included as the wild. You can also play ‘Sevens Wild’ and as you might have guessed it’s the 7 which is wild in this game, whereas in ‘Deuces Wild’ it’s the 2. All variations on a theme as is often the case with online games.

Video Poker has been a popular game for many years now. As with the game you’re used to playing with your friends, it’s not the easiest to learn. The basics might not take too long to get used to but strategy can be a never-ending lesson. So take the advantage of some free games and learn as much as you can before risking your real cash.