The History of Electronic Poker
Wednesday, 17. February 2010
Electronic-Poker is simply a blend of two well-liked forms of gambling: the video slot using the poker game. Winning a game of Video Poker requires a combination of gambler talent with genuine luck, making it a favorite with gamblers. The game of poker is believed to have begun back in 1830, where it’s recorded as having been played by French migrants living in New Orleans. Electronic-Poker uses a variation of the game named five-card draw poker. At the same time, the coin-operated card device (better-known affectionately as a "slot") was first created in the late 1800’s, with poker machines appearing in San Francisco in 1890. These machines were incredibly basic by today’s standards, using real cards instead of icons.
The machines declined in interest throughout the 1st half of the Twentieth century. Economic difficulties mixed with the limited technologies of the machines themselves meant that men and women just weren’t interested in gambling anymore. A extremely primitive digital poker machine was released in Nineteen Sixty-Four but accomplished only average results.
It was not until the mid-70’s that the Electronic-Poker machines as we know it today started to be available. Advancements in technology meant that a computer chip (CPU) could be used inside the machines to give them a "brain", while a video screen showed the action to the player.
Meanwhile, casino operators searched for new high-profit games, and also the mixture of a video slot with the more traditional game of five-card draw poker proved to be a winning mixture in the old and new. The very first Video-Poker machine was built in ‘76 by Bally Manufacturing. It was black and white only, but a color version was developed just eight months later, released by the Fortune Coin Company. Over the next few years, chips became more affordable to mass produce, and much more gambling establishments introduced Video Poker machines as they grew to become additional financially viable. A version named Draw Poker was introduced in 1979 by a company now labeled IGT, and it achieved unheralded success.
Video Poker truly took off in the early 80s where it grew to become famous in gambling establishments across Sin City. Gamblers found themselves far less anxious by a machine than they were when sitting down at a table in front of others. The popularity of the game has continuously grown during the last quarter-century and it can now be found in the majority of casinos throughout the world, as well as in bars and on the Net.
Posted in Video Poker by Maximillian