ROYAL FLUSHES & DUECES WILD
A Brief History of Video Poker
By Sean Chaffin
Slot players love seeing those reels spin and spin, with an occasional solid win or even a jackpot showing up on occasion. But video poker offers something different—the chance at some big winnings while utilizing strategy and getting much better odds at winning.
Video poker certainly isn’t as popular as slot machines, but there is a real following among gamblers with many devoted to the games based on traditional Five Card Draw. Those who master basic strategy can thin the house edge to as low as 0.5%, depending on the version and the pay table. In fact, video poker is one of the rare games where, in certain situations, players can actually turn the tables on the casino and flip the odds in their favor.
This is one of the best games in the casino and those who play their on-screen cards right have a decent chance to walk away a winner— unlike in traditional slots that may have a house edge as high as 20% or more. With all that in mind, some might ask how video poker became a part of live and online casinos. Here’s a quick look at this fun and fascinating game.
CARDS & COMPUTERS
Most casino games date their history back hundreds of years to Europe and even China. But slots and video poker are fairly new games in the big picture of the gambling world. Slots date their history back to the late 19th century and video poker arrived even more recently.
While slots could use mechanical reels, video poker needed the invention of computers before making their way to casino floors. But there were some forerunners that would eventually pave the way for that to happen. The popularity of poker in the late 19th century inspired the Sittman and Pitt Co. in Brooklyn, NY, to create a poker machine that was released in 1891. The game was popular and expanded across the country.
About the same time, slot machines began to be found at bars and restaurants throughout California and also spread quickly. Unlike today’s games, these early forerunners didn’t pay out just in cash.
“On many early machines, players put in a coin, after which the machine flipped through five sets of cards that displayed in a window,” David Schwartz noted in his Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling. “Lucky players won a prize in proportion to the strength of their hand: two pair might garner only one cigar (or its cash equivalent, a nickel), while a full house might win four.”
Poker was particularly popular in San Francisco and so were the machines. In the same city, Charles Fey produced the first slot machine, known as the Liberty Bell, in 1894 in his machine shop. Fey added the Card Bell in 1898, which became the first poker machine to pay out wins automatically with coins.
While these early poker machines were popular, it would be decades before the video poker found today would debut. The birth of personal computers in the 1970s eventually led to some of the first video poker games. Like those earlier mechanical machines, the new games now offered poker but with a better experience and interactivity via a screen.
In the mid-1970s, Bally’s Gaming distributor Si Redd pitched a bold new idea to company executives in Chicago: a game called video poker. Unwilling to move beyond traditional slot machines, Bally’s rejected the concept but agreed to let Redd retain the patent—a decision later viewed as a costly misstep. Within months, Redd partnered with Fortune Coin Company in Reno to form Si Redd’s Coin Machines (SIRCOMA) and begin mass-producing video poker machines. Though early adoption was slow, the game gained momentum in 1979 with the release of Draw Poker, and by 1981 it had become the most popular new addition to casino floors. Founded by Redd in 1975 while he owned the Oasis Casino in Mesquite, NV, SIRCOMA experienced rapid growth and eventually evolved into International Game Technology (IGT), now one of the world’s largest gaming manufacturers. Known as the “king of slot machines,” Redd is a member of both the Gaming Hall of Fame and the Nevada Business Hall of Fame.
Right from the start, Draw Poker was a hit. Players could wager a few coins in the machine, select the cards they wanted to keep, choose the cards they wanted to discard, and draw new cards. The game seemed simple, but was also pretty groundbreaking at the time.
Draw Poker saw a major boost in the 1980s. The game became associated with a more laid-back gambling feel. Casinos added them to bar tops in Las Vegas and in other gaming jurisdictions. Gamblers could order a beer or cocktail at the bar while playing poker. Additionally, the game was a nice option for people who enjoyed playing poker, but might be intimidated taking a seat in a casino poker room.
“It was not the first attempt at a video poker machine,” Roll the Bones notes of Redd’s game, “but it was the most successful.”
VIDEO POKER FOR THE MODERN WORLD
Slot machines have seen massive improvements since those days of mechanical inner workings, but the modernization of video poker machines has been more gradual. Video poker players won’t find the high-tech cabinets, exceptional graphics, sensational sound and other features found on today’s slot.
However, there has been some growth in this gaming medium. Players will now find numerous types of video poker games, such as Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, Joker’s Wild and more. Each has their proponents and each also has their own basic strategy to consider. Other options now include multi-plehand games, playing as many as 100 hands at once, and the ability to play online. Some games even feature progressive jackpots.
For some players, the casual atmosphere and man-versus-machine gameplay that comes with video poker is a nice alternative to the frenetic pace, not to mention the hefty house edge, found in traditional slot machines.
Savvy video poker players practicing perfect strategy can really lower the odds on their favorite games, and casino comps can add to that even more. Of course, many casinos find ways to alter some of the payouts and increase the house edge. Checking out how each game pays out and knowing what games to watch for is a big part of trying to win.
In recent years, video poker may have fallen out of favor compared to slots, table games and traditional poker. But video poker options can usually be found in most casinos around the world. Today, there are hundreds of different video poker variations, and thousands of different pay tables. New and exciting versions continue to be released. The games have come a long way since those early mechanical games, but continue to bring in gamblers looking for some entertaining fun—and the chance to finally land that royal flush and the huge payout that comes with it.
