A Short History of Video Poker

As you may have already surmised, video poker is a simple combination of the live game of poker and of slots. Poker is a card game that has a lot of strategy involved, and as such, has gained followers, strategists, and even scholars at its doorsteps. Slots, on the other hand, became popular because of its simplicity and accessibility -- even a simpleton can match patterns.

It all began when computing and technology evolved -- when a computer could be small enough to be connected to a television-sized monitor. The algorithm back then was simple, yet useful and complete enough to perform the job. This was the 1970s, so you can imagine how crude the interface was back then.

Soon after, almost all land-based casinos cashed in on this technological leap, thus the birth of other video gambling games like video horse racing and video roulette. Poker-Matic by Dale Electronics became the frontrunner of the modern video poker, with cool graphics (well, at the time of inception) and an easy to use interface.

In 1975, the Fortune Bell Company replaced its slot machines with draw poker machines, and they became a hit. Soon after, video poker became a fixture in casinos. They still are, given the combination of strategy and user friendliness that the medium gives.

When the Internet became accessible to millions of people, online casinos soon rose and along with them, the online version of popular land-based gambling games. Video poker is one of these. Because of the virtual nature of the game, it became possible to create several versions, all as exciting and as easy to understand as the original.

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