Video Poker History
J Finney

The video poker machine is one of the most popular gambling
machines in existence today. Part poker, and part video game,
it’s the perfect combination to make it a modern day gambling
sensation. Although today’s video poker machines are the
epitome of our current high tech in gambling, they have existed
in simpler form for about two hundred years.

Video poker is of course based on the card game of poker. The
video poker machine of today is the result of the game of poker
being manifested into different types of games at varying levels
of technology through the generations. The game of poker has
been played in America since the early 1880s, with the game
being referred to as ‘Poker’ in 1834 by a man name Jonathan
Green.

The earliest recorded ancestors of the video poker machine were
coin operated machines which used poker cards. These machines
came into the scene in the late 1800s, and were manufactured by
a company by the name of Sittman and Pitt of Brooklyn. The poker
card machines were placed in liquor stores and cigar shops, and
shortly worked their way across the U.S.

These machines worked by the player putting a coin into the
poker machine and pulling a handle, which spun five drums that
held the poker cards. The player would wait for it to stop,
while hoping for a winning hand. A winning hand was paid out in
cigars or drinks. Sadly, and unbeknownst to the players, the Ten
of Spades and the Jack of Hearts were left out of the deck to
reduce the chances of winning.

In 1901, Charles Fey made the next big improvement to the poker
machine by adding the first ‘draw’ feature to the already wildly
popular machine. Fey’s addition to the poker machine allowed the
player to actually use their poker skills in the game, as
opposed to being left to the mercy of blind luck.

Charles Fey’s improvement allowed the player to hold certain
drums still after the first spin, while pulling the handle to
spin the remaining drums. This in effect was the first ‘hold’
and ‘draw’ combination.

Over the following years, people’s interest in poker card
machines diminished, with only an occasional hiccup of interest
every now and again. It wasn’t until the late 1970s that the
poker machine was reborn into the video poker machine, thus
rekindling the love of video poker.

The first of these machines appeared along side of the personal
computer. It was this technology which made the video poker
machine a reality. With its solid state circuitry, and its
television like monitor, this clunky machine would give rise to
the poker machines of today. These machines have made their
homes in bars, casinos and even online.

Check out poker player profiles at
http://www.poker-player-profiles.com/ and poker room reviews at
http://www.poker-reviews-online.com/


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