Video poker History

Video poker is a hybrid game deriving from both slot machines and the game of poker. While little is known about poker’s creation – and what is known is usually controversial and widely contested – it is generally thought that poker as we know it today began in earnest on the Mississippi River where it became a favorite pastime on riverboats.

At the same time, games operated by coins were popular in parlours and stores all over the United States. While Charles Fey was developing drop card machines such as the 6-Way Paying Teller, it was his first slot machines that were really capturing the public imagination. Slot machines soon outclassed the old coin operated machine games to be the most popular games of their day.

During the 1960s mechanical poker games gained fluctuating popularity with game fans. As technology advanced however, casino games became more widely recognized and in the 1970s the Dale Electronics firm’s ‘Poker-Matic’ proved to be the toast of the town in Las Vegas.

In 1975 the first hybrid machine was born when the Fortune Coin Company’s video bell slot machine was modified into a draw poker machine for casino purposes. The invention was an instant hit and spawned a dynamic and competitive industry focusing on the manufacturing of video poker machines. Among the leaders of this new industry was William Redd, founder of the present day giant International Game Technology.

With the invention of the microchip in the mid 1970’s, the game of video poker machines underwent a series of revolutionary changes, spreading to casinos all over the country. To this day, the video poker machine along with the slot machine remains among a casino’s best-loved and successful games and consistently the casino’s major source of revenue.