Video Poker

History
The history of video poker is closely related to that of slot machines. In 1891, the Sittman and Pitt Company of Brooklyn, New York invented an early poker slot machine. It contained five drums, each having 10 different playing cards. Each drum would eventually stop on a card, making up the final poker hand.

In 1898, Charles Fey, created the Card Bell that could automatically pay cash prizes to the winner. In 1901, Fey followed with a poker machine called the Skill Draw which had a “Hold” feature. After the initial spin created a poker hand, the player could hold some of the cards and re-spin. This was the first 5-Card Draw Poker machine. During the early 1900’s, the Skill Draw slot machine became so popular that they couldn’t be manufactured fast enough.

Public Trickery
The player was under the impression that the machine used a full deck of 52 cards, but it only held 50 cards. In most cases, the 10 of spades and jack of hearts were eliminated which cut the possibility of a royal flush in half. Players were not aware of this. Nonetheless, these machines were very popular and led to modern video poker as we know it today.

Here Comes Video Poker
Here Comes Video Poker In the mid 1970’s, a distributor for Bally Gaming named Si Redd pitched an idea to the company’s executives for a game called Video Poker. The idea was rejected but agreed to let Redd take the patent. Within months, he made a deal with Fortune Coin Company in Reno to produce his video poker machines. By 1981 this new game was the most popular addition to casinos.

Draw Poker
The earliest version of Draw Poker increased the game’s popularity dramatically. These original machines were quite primitive by today’s standards, with screens very similar to televisions at the time.

Soon after, Redd took the company public and changed the name to International Gaming Technology (IGT), which is now the world’s largest gaming machine manufacturer. Today, there are hundreds of different video poker variations and it all stemmed from a mechanical poker slot machine introduced in 1891.