Video Poker – When Did It All Start?

01.31.2008 | 11:15 am | Poker

While the online Poker sites of today are often credited with bringing Poker to the masses, many people may not know that Video Poker is a type of game which has been around since the 1970s.  Video Poker was probably the first type of computer orientated Poker in the world, allowing players to brush up on their Poker skills without the added pressure of playing at a table.  So how does Video Poker work?

One of the main regulations which came into force at the same time as Video Poker hit the scenes was the requirement to ensure that the game was as random as possible.  No hidden gimmicks, no hidden systems, just a pure random play to add realism to the game (while strictly speaking there is no such thing as absolute random when the results are calculated by a computer, they are as near as you will ever get) and give everyone the same chance of that large win.

Rather than playing against an “opponent”, many of the video poker machines offer a league table of payouts for certain hands. The player will insert cash and receive 5 cards which they can exchange for up to 5 more different cards while they attempt to put their strongest hand together. Sound easy?

While the basics of the game are very simple and easy to understand, in practice you are playing with 52 cards (53 where the game uses a joker) and only using a maximum of 10 for any one hand. Over the years the style of video poker was amended slightly and rather than drawing 5 cards face up and 5 cards face down at the start, only 5 were dealt, and then the player had the option to exchange. The reason for the change in dealing style revolved around some machines and the formulae they used to “deal” the cards - some players had created a system which gave them an unfair advantage.

Video Poker is still very popular today and the machines can be seen dotted around a whole host of casinos.