The History of Video Poker

The history of video poker takes its roots from the game of poker in large part, as well as in the history of slot machines. The earliest slot machines were designed after the game of poker. These earliest slot machines were developed in 1891 in New York by Pitt and Sittman. The machine had 5 drums while the faces of playing cards were segregated. The machine had 50 cards, while a ten and jack of any suit were removed to increase the difficulty of creating a good poker hand such as a straight and royal flush. Payouts were in form of drinks or cigars often found at the establishment where the machine was located, and was determined by the poker hand.

In 1898, Charles Fey created the Card Bell to improve the poker machine. Like his famous slot machine the Liberty Bell, it had pre-assigned payouts for all winning poker hands, as much as 20 coins for a royal flush. He further improved on the design and released a machine called Skill Draw during 1901. The machine had a hold feature wherein in initially the player would spin all the 5 reels. If he is dissatisfied with the result, he could hold one or more reels and spin the remaining reels again. With this, Fey created a maximum of 5 draw poker game. This feature revolutionized the poker game, and the hold feature has been incorporated in poker games until now.

The introduction of electronics began a new dawn for poker machines. In 1970, Dale Electronics released the first electronic video poker machine named Poker-matic. The machine was soon found in Las Vegas casinos, however it was not a big hit. In 1979, SIRCOMA, now known as IGT or International Game Technology, released the Draw Poker machine, which was developed from video bell slot machines. The Draw Poker machines showcased features such as Hold and Draw, which made it a lot more popular than the Poker-matic. The popularity of the machines were due to the fact that they could provide comfort zones for players who are intimidated by casino table games but would still want to play poker. This could be seen as the start of the new age of electronic video poker.

As technology improved, further advanced in video poker became possible. With high speed internet and casino bonus, playing video poker online and at your own home was deemed to be possible. In 1994, Microgaming developed and released the first online video poker machine software and other providers have followed suit.

Despite the onset of online poker, video poker machines are still a constant fixture at every online casino. Various video poker machines are being released today such as Spin Poker and Multi-strike poker. Spin poker could be described as a cross between a slot machine and a video poker machine, while Multi-strike poker is a game wherein you have multiple hands and pays increase as your place in the hand ladder increases.

As seen in various developments in both online and casino video poker, it can be said that the game still has a long way to go. Further developments can be expected with the technological advancements, and video poker can only increase in popularity with poker players, young and old alike.