Video Poker History
The popular casino game of video poker is a combination of poker and slot machines. The excitement of poker and the thrills of slots developed into video poker, a popular game played at many land based as well as online casinos. Regarding the history of the game, one should look at the history of both poker and slots. Both games have their own distinct histories and merged together to create video poker in the late 1970s.
The Origin of Video Poker
Mechanical poker machines were popular in the first half of the 20th century. Electronic games became reality in 1964 when Nevada Electronics developed the 21 machine. Another hit was Poker-Matic, a machine created by Dale Electronics. The development of PCs in the mid 1970s triggered the creation of video poker. The game combined a CPU and a monitor. The first video bell slot was introduced in 1975 by the Fortune Coin Company and in 1979 International Game Technology created Draw Poker. What follows is history.
History of Poker and Slots
Let’s take a look at the history of poker and slots, since they are the foundation of video poker. The game of poker is believed to have been developed by the medieval card games Poche, Asnas and Brag. However, today’s version of poker is in fact developed in the mid 1800s in the US. Jonathan Green recorded traces of 20-card poker on the riverboats on the Mississippi.
The first slot machine, on the other hand, was developed by Charles Fey in late 1800. Liberty Bell slot was introduced in 1887 and it became immediate success. The game used card symbols as well as icons like bells, horseshoes and stars and it had 3 reels. A handle was pulled in order to spin the reels.
The creation of the first Draw feature in slots led to the contribution of the development of video poker. This feature allowed players to use poker skills to win by holding one or two of the reels in place and spinning the rest.
Online Video Poker
The introduction of Internet contributed toward the creation of online video poker. Online casinos began to appear as well as online casino games. Nowadays, there are plenty of online poker real money app that can be played at many casinos.
Players rely on luck as well as on optimal video poker strategy to win in these games. However, there are a few other factors that additionally contribute to the final outcome, such as money management and operator reliability. While the former may depend on a player’s discipline, the matter of choosing a reliable website can be done by general criteria.