Video poker came about in the mid 1970s after the computer chip came to life. For the most part, players don't recall seeing the machines out in the casinos until the 1980s. 

 

Video poker is basically a hybrid of slot machines and five card draw poker.

 

Poker itself, dates back to the 1830s. A man by the name of Jonathan Green referred to the rules by calling it the cheating game. His writing states that the cheating game was being played up and down the Mississippi River on many riverboats. After Green realized that he was the first to document the game he renamed it poker. Of course all this has been greatly questioned.

 

Among the greatly questioned history of poker are three different major claims. Some historians believe the word poker itself, comes from the French word poque (18th century). Others believe it stems from a Hindu word pukka, others yet believe it comes from an old German game called pochspiel.

 

Now, video poker machines can be found just about anywhere, legally and illegally. There are many different machines yeilding many different pay-out schedules. The best machines to play are the regulated ones (legal). They will obviously have  a better pay-out since they are highly regulated.