Video poker is a console game, offered on a machine similar to a slot machine, which offers a game of computerised poker similar to that of the traditional game of five card draw poker. The game entered into the world in the nineteen seventies and while primitive at first, it began to explode in popularity in the nineteen eighties, particularly after the introduction of draw poker in 1979, at which time it became a regular fixture in the majority of casinos. The appeal of video poker has not diminished with time; the game is now a major feature of almost all casinos and is very popular, especially with inexperienced players who may be overwhelmed and intimidated by the “real” poker tables.

Players of the game must insert money into the machine, and then choose how much of the cash they have inserted they wish to bet on the first hand. The machine then gives the player electronic ‘cards’, which they are allowed to then change in an attempt to gain a better ranking hand. If the eventual resulting hand is a winning ranking (straight flush, four of a kind, etc) then the machine will pay out money based on both the size of the bet and the class of the hand. Gaming authorities require that the video poker machines must be set to provide a random set of ‘cards’ during the game, thus allowing the user a reasonable chance of being given a winning hand.