Video Poker History

Online video poker history dates back further than one might think. The internet casinos have only been around since the mid 1990's but the first video poker machines came to us in the 1970's and even before video technology, mechanical poker games were first invented around the same time as the first slot machines. Video poker machines and slot machines have a history that is intertwined and both video poker and slots remain extremely popular to this day, both online and off.

Online video poker gives just about anyone the opportunity to get in on the action even if you don't live near a casino. You can play the games from the comfort of your home and like the land based casinos, online casinos are always open so you can play whenever you feel the need. Your trip to the casino can be as short as walking into the next room to boot up your computer.

Slot Machines and Video Poker

The very first slot machine ever made was in fact a poker machine. In 1891 a Brooklyn NY based company, Sittman and Pitt developed a gambling machine containing five drums which held 50 card faces. This mechanical game was based on poker. Players would insert a nickle and winning poker hands would be paid in a number of different ways. The machines themselves had no mechanism to pay the players direcly but wins would be paid in a number of different ways depending on the establishment that hosted the game. Because gambling is not legal in many places, it was not uncommon for winning players to be payed with drinks or cigars.

A standard deck of playing cards contains 52 cards but these early poker machines contained only 50. These machines were missing the 10 of spades and the Jack of hearts. Removing these cards increased the house's chances of winning by greatly reducing the possibility of certain strong hands like straights or royal flushes.

The first non-poker based slot machine was invented by Charles Fey of San Francisco. There is some confusion over the exact date that Fey's slot machine was invented but it is believed that he first conceived of this machine in 1895 and it may have actually been built in 1887.

This first non-poker slot machine was was known as the Liberty Bell. This machine uses three spinning reels and each reel has five symbols on it - horseshoes, diamonds, spades, hearts and of course a Liberty Bell. Unlike the poker machine developed by Sittman and Pitt which contained five reels with ten cards on each reel, the Liberty Bell machine had only three reels with five symbols per reel and this made the inner workings of the machine far less complex which made it possible to devise an automatic payout mechanism. The first true slot machine was born. Of the orignial Liberty Bell machines produce only one survives to this day. The others were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire in San Francisco. Charlie Fey was able to save one of the machines and that very machine now resides in the Liberty Belle Saloon and restaurant in Reno Nevada which was founded by Fey's grandsons.

In 1901 Charles Fey added a draw feature to his slot machine with allowed certain reels to be held when making an additional spin. This feature made it much more like the video poker machines we're familiar with today. This feature also helps to greatly increase the popularity of the early slot machines. With the rapidly increasing popularity of slot machines Sittman and Pitt were busy manufacturing machines but the demand was greater than the supply. The machines were so popular that manufacturers could not keep up with the orders. It wasn't long before nearly every liquor store, saloon, and cigarette shop at a slot machine for their customers to play.

The First True Video Poker Machines

The early slot and poker machines from the late 1800s and early 1900s were mechanical devices and the first true video poker machines were not invented until much later because the technology simply had not been invented yet.

Personal computers were first made available in the mid-1970s and the earliest versions of video poker were being developed around the same time. When the technology was available and it was economically feasible to construct a game with a screen like a television and a central processing unit capable of running the computations, the first video poker machine was born.

The first video poker machine came after an unsuccessful attempt to introduce a video slot machine. The Fortune Bell Company introduced the first video slot machine in 1975 but it was not very popular so it was altered to become the first draw poker machine. This first video poker machine caught on and became very popular.

In 1979 a company known as SIRCOMA which later became the International Game Technology Company developed its own version of the draw poker machine to capitalize on the early popularity of video poker. As technology advanced video poker machines were continually being updated and improved. In the 1980s the popularity of video poker increased even more and there was actually a shortage of video poker machines.

Today the popularity of the video poker games is as strong as ever and with advances in technology we have access to some very entertaining games that have great graphics and sound effects and we have the ability to play our choice of many different games from one machine.

Online Video Poker History

The first Internet casinos came online in the mid 1990's and video poker was a natural choice for casino owners to offer. The first online casinos offered a good selection of popular casino games such as craps, roulette, blackjack, and slot machines in addition to video poker. With advancements in technology and faster, more reliable internet connections the games offer a much better player experience now than the first casinos that pioneered the virtual gaming landscape.

Today there are hundreds of online casinos as well as hundreds of variations of video poker games to choose from. Each one will have their own unique twist on the game and rule variations. Some things never change of course like the rankings of hands for example but with so many games to choose from it is important to carefully read the rules for any game or variation you want to play. At the time of this writing a Google search for video poker brings up over 25 million results and "online video poker" brings up over 17 million results, this may give you some idea of the popularity of this game as well as the competition among the various internet casinos.

Although there are an almost endless number of video poker games to choose from, don't let that intimidate you. Video poker is an easy game to play and it is not difficult to learn the rule and pay out variations. No matter which variation you're playing you will normally start be choosing to the value of each coin, then you would place a wager of anywhere from one to five betting units. The "cards" are dealt and then you have the option to hold the cards you wish to hold and discard the others. After the discard you will draw replacement cards and then you will either win or lose depending on your hand and the pay out table for the game you are playing.

Video poker is a fun game that offers more favorable odds to the player than many other games. Unlike traditional poker it is just you against the machine and you can take as long as you like to decide how to play your hand. There are no other players or dealer to rush you. You can take your time to make sure you're playing your hand the right way but before long you will know how to play different hands without even thinking about it. This game is easy to learn and it's a lot of fun.

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