The History of Video Poker
ByOnline Video Poker was not even a thought back in the 1800’s, when Draw Poker and 5 Card Stud were the basic poker games. These were enjoyed by patrons of the Old West saloons and on the Mississippi riverboats. In the 1900s, Americans all across the country were playing these poker games in their homes. Friday nights became Poker Night for family and friends.
The only problem is that you had to understand the game and play a poker a lot before you were ready to enter a card room to play. This was solved when Video Poker came about during the late 1970s. This was a computerised combination of slot machines and poker. The excitement was caused by it being new, easy and a lot of fun to play. One could play them alone without the hassle of dealers and other players. It became very popular in the casinos all over the country, and lead to the introduction of online Video Poker.
The first video poker machines were located in Las Vegas during 1976. The payouts on the earlier machines were rather limited. However, the royal flush payout on dollar machines was $1,500 if all 5 coins were played. The casino operators saw a chance to make this a wildly popular machine. They collaborated with the manufacturers of the machines and had the payouts increased. The higher payouts went as high as levels of 8 or 9 coins for a full house. This helped the players to notice these machines more and they got even more popular. Casino managers of today are moving out the old slot machines to replace them with new Video Poker games as fast as they can.
Online Video Poker games have become even more sought after as more and more virtual casinos are popping up on the internet.