Video poker
Video poker is a type of poker where you play against the house, not against other players. It is played on a machine (similar to a slot machine) so there is no real dealer.
The invention of video poker
The first video poker game was released by Dale Electronics in the early 1970s and could be described as a combination of slot machine and 5 card draw poker. Draw poker is a game where you get a chance to replace any and all cards in hope of achieving a better hand, and this is how video poker is still played today. You receive a 5-card starting hand, decide which cards to keep and which to toss, and is given one new card for each card that you got rid of.
Dale Electronics early version of video poker didn't become very successful. Instead, it was Si Redd's machine “Draw Poker”, released in 1979, that turned mainstream players onto video poker. In 1979, Si Redd was already a successful slot machine developer and the founder of Sircoma (Si Redds' Coin Machines).
Prior to forming Sircoma, Si Redd worked at Bally Gaming Inc in Chicago. He told his employer about his plans for a video poker game but Bally Gaming elected to keep focusing on ordinary slot machines with spinning wheels, discarding Redd's innovative ideas. Redd filed a personal patent for video poker machines, and eventually teamed up with Reno based Fortune Coin Company to form Sircoma. By 1981, their machine ”Draw Poker”had become the most popular game on casino floors in the United States. Sircome later turned into International Game Technology (IGT) and is still going strong on the casino market.
Video poker in the 1980s
Gamblers in the United States as well as abroad soon realized the benefits of video poker machines. Unlike an ordinary slot machine, the video poker machine gave you a choice and promoted skillful gambling instead of offering games entirely based on luck. The odds were beneficial and you could play for small amounts of money – often considerably smaller than what ordinary poker tables in casinos would allow. Many gamers liked how they didn't have to interact with other players at a table and how they didn't have to take the psychology of fellow players into account.
Video poker in the 1990s
In the 1990s, video poker manufacturers began producing machine types with worse odds than before to give the house an edge and make the video poker machines more lucrative for casinos. You could still find so called “full pay” video poker machines like 9/6 Jacks or Better in casinos, but they were now accompanied by “low pay” video poker machines like 8/6 Jacks or Better and 6/5 Jacks or Better. Many new video poker players didn't realize the difference and would happily pick low paying machines even when given the opportunity to select full paying machines instead.
Video poker in the 2000s and onward
The first online casinos had opened up their virtual gates in the late 1990s and during the 2000s the online gambling market went through a huge boom. All of a sudden, you could play video poker and other casino games from the comfort of your own home. All you needed was a computer, an internet connection and an account with a gambling site. Some online casinos would even let you play video poker for play money, thus allowing you to try out and perfect your video poker strategies before you started wagering real money in the casino.
Today, virtually every casino online offers a rich assortment of video poker – not just Jacks or Better but machines such as All American, Deuces Wild, Tens or Better and Joker Poker as well.
