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.

Video poker became more firmly established when IGT (now a market-leading provider of gaming devices) brought out Draw Poker in 1979. Throughout the 1980s, video poker became increasingly popular, as people found the devices less intimidating than playing slots or at the tables. Today, video poker enjoys a prominent place on the gaming floors of many casinos, and the game is especially popular with Las Vegas locals, who tend to patronize properties off the Las Vegas Strip for the better odds offered by those establishments.

Video poker is one of the more popular online casino games because if played correctly, the player has up to a 2% edge over the house. This holds true in traditional brick and mortar casinos as well.

The more popular forms of video poker are dueces wild and jacks or better.