Video poker is one casino game that doesn't change much between land-based establishments and online casinos. Video poker is played against a machine in both the casino and on the Internet so nothing is lost in terms of atmosphere. And this is one of the reasons that the game has become such an online hit with millions of people playing it worldwide.
Video Poker HistoryVideo poker doesn't have quite the history that some online casino games have since it has always operated on a machine. Video poker machines were spawned from slot machines in 1970 when Dale Electronics manufactured the first line of them. Unfortunately, video poker machines were widely unpopular during the 1970's because people were unfamiliar with them and preferred sticking to the slots. But the machines saw a popularity spike in 1979 when Sircoma (IGT) created a draw poker machine which replaced spinning wheels with a video screen.
The 80's saw more video poker players than ever as the draw poker machines improved dramatically and people trusted the machines more. This popularity surge continued into the 90's and the later part of this decade even saw the creation of online video poker. Now people can enjoy a game of video poker in casino settings or right in their own home!
Video Poker JackpotsWhat draws people to video poker is that it gives them a chance to hit a huge jackpot in one hand. And both online video poker and casino video poker provide these jackpots, but there is definitely more money to be won on the Internet. That's because online casinos don't have the heavy operating costs or huge staffs that land-based casinos do and they can afford to offer players more payouts in the form of bigger jackpots. Looking at the payout aspect, it just makes more sense to play online video poker.
Winning Video Poker JackpotsThe mistake most people make when playing video poker is that they don't play to win the jackpot. Instead, they keep going for small hands thinking that they will earn a profit by doing this. But the best way to become a winning video poker player is to go for the jackpots and this means letting go of the small hands when a jackpot is within grasp. If you've got a pair of jacks (which only earns back an original bet), but have four cards to a royal flush then you need to get rid of one of the jacks. Even three cards to a royal flush should prompt you to get rid of a jack since the jackpot chance is much better than a pair of jacks.
