The intersection of poker and technology has profoundly changed the nature of the game, far beyond facilitating online tournaments between players on opposite sides of the glob, or allowing players to carry out a game with virtual cards instead of real ones.

Here, we are talking about video poker, and online casino game that might be considered a hybrid of slots and Five Card Draw. In such games, a player is dealt five virtual cards, and must chose whether to keep this original hand, or try to improve it by substituting in new cards or even an entirely new hand.

So far, this looks very much like Five Card Draw. Where do the slots-like features come in? Well, each round of the game is short and self-contained. Also, the differences between various types of video poker games are rather superficial, involving the addition of bonus hands, bonus rounds, or multi-hand play. This is much like what happens when “new” slots games are invented: the basic structure of the game is very much the same, but more complex features are added on a relatively superficial level. “New” slots games tend to have more special symbols, video features, multi-line structures, etc., while still having the same basic features as a traditional fruit machine. The paying mechanism for both games are very similar: players bet a small amount of money (usually just a few tokens’ worth) for each round, but a great deal of money might be spent in one session, since, as we said before, players often go through a long string of rounds. Also, as in slots, it sometimes happens that players end up extending a session for much longer than they had planned—or going at a faster pace than they intended—and thus spending too much money. Slots are notorious for this phenomenon, and video poker games are rapidly catching up to them in reputation.

There is also the very isolated nature of video slots. Players sit alone in front of a video poker machine or computer. The “social” factor of traditional poker games simply becomes irrelevant. On the one hand, some players might find this experience boring and/or lonely. Then again, there will be those who will be rather relieved that they do not have to keep up a great “poker face,” or try to detect the poker tells of others. They can then focus on the more analytical, calculation-based aspects of playing poker.

We can therefore say that video poker is very, very different from traditional poker in general. It is no wonder, then, that you are highly unlikely to find video poker offered in online poker halls. Rather, you will have much better luck locating video poker in more general gambling sites—the best of which can boast dozens of different variants.

In addition, it is also likely that some players will greatly enjoy video poker but dislike traditional poker, or vice versa, so great is the divergence between these two types of playing experience. Therefore, if you have tried one, but not had a great time, give the other variant a chance. You just might surprise yourself, and discover an exciting new pastime.