Video Poker - Five Card Draw

The Game for Today is Video Poker - the popular casino game based on five card draw poker.

Computerized casino video poker machines first appeared in the mid-1970's, just after the birth of the home video arcade console. These first machines were crude compared the sophisticated versions of today. It would take the casinos a few more years before these early consoles became commercially viable – the initial expense of the components was just too great.

The Video Poker consoles became more popular when SIRCOMA (Si Redd’s Coin Machines) introduced Draw Poker in 1979. SIRCOMA later became slot machine manufacturing giant IGT (International Game Technology).

During the 1980’s, video poker’s popularity climbed as casino patrons found the machines easy to play and casino’s discovered that the machines were more profitable than their table game counterparts.

Today, most major Las Vegas casino’s consider the video poker machine a major source of revenue and feature the machines prominently.