Video poker is a casino game based on five-card draw poker. It is played on a computerized console similar in size to a slot machine. Video poker first became commercially viable when it became economical to combine a television-like monitor with a solid state central processing unit. The earliest models appeared at the same time as the first personal computers were produced, in the mid-1970s, although they were primitive by today’s standards.

Game play begins by placing a bet of one or more credits, by inserting money into the machine, and then pressing a “Deal” button to draw cards. The player is then given an opportunity to keep or discard one or more of the cards in exchange for a new card drawn from the same virtual deck. After the draw, the machine evaluates the hand and offers a payout if the hand matches one of the winning hands in the posted pay schedule.

On a typical video poker machine, payouts start with a minimum hand of a pair of jacks. Pay tables allocate the payout for hands based partially upon how rare they are, and also based upon the total theoretical return the game operator chooses to offer. Video poker machines operated in state-regulated jurisdictions are programmed to deal random card sequences. A series of cards is generated for each play; five dealt straight to the hand, the other five dealt in order if requested by player. This is due to a Nevada regulation, adopted by every other state with a gaming authority, that if dice or cards are used for an electronic game, the electronic versions must be as random as the real thing, within computational limits set by certain tests that are performed by gaming authority agents.

Video poker is a casino game which is based loosely on five-card draw poker. It is played on a computerized console which is a similar size to a slot machine. Video poker – History. Video poker first became commercially viable once it was economical to combine a television-like monitor with a solid state central processing unit. The earliest models appeared at the same time as the first personal computers were produced, in the mid-1970s, although they were rather primitive by today’s standards.