Original Release: Action Gaming, 2004, Web browser
Other Releases: Android/iOS (2018)
Run by Action Gaming, the kings of video poker in brick-and-mortar casinos for over two decades, the Videopoker.com website and apps allow for free play of their various games with a rewards system and contests for cash prizes
Videopoker.com (Web browser, Action Games, 2004)
Where to Buy: Free-to-play in a web browser
Review by: C. M0use
I’m filing Videopoker.com under “social casinos” but it kinda pre-dates the concept. I first started playing around with it in 2013, but it actually launched nearly 10 years before that (and hasn’t changed a whole lot in 20 years from a web design standpoint, as you might notice). It does have an actual social aspect in terms of a chat area and being able to post public messages to people (as well as adding an optional photo to your profile), and it has always had a “reward points” system for earning real prizes but one that doesn’t actually use or prompt you to buy virtual chips.
Previously, the big limitation was that the prizes were limited to branded swag and free premium subscriptions (aside from the ultimate prize, requiring an insane amount of points, being a free three-night trip to Vegas). After happening to check back in on it on a whim, I found they’ve since added substantial layers to it – the biggest being regular daily, weekly and monthly contests for cash prizes!
The site now distributes a total of at least $5000 per month between all these assorted free contests. It’s also not only expanded its video poker variants to around 100, it’s also added 12 types of keno … so I guess you can actually have the World Series of Keno here! (or at least a reasonable facsimile).
The whole thing is funded by Action Gaming, a longtime casino game designer that partnered up with IGT on their Game King series specializing in video poker and keno-focused terminals that allow you to select from a wide variety of simple games. If you’ve ever been in a live casino in the last 20 years or so, you’ve no doubt seen them; it’s often the only option on the floor for single-hand video poker. Videopoker.com is packed with the sorts of games you see on those machines, plus some titles that IGT/Action usually ship on their own separate cabinets like Ultimate X and Triple Play Draw Poker.
So the core feature of the site is simply playing all these video poker and keno games to your heart’s content, and earning one “reward point” for each hand you play. You don’t have to worry about managing a stack of virtual chips or buying new ones, but the site is monetized by showing a video ad of a few seconds whenever you switch to a new game type. That by itself doesn’t seem like a whole lot of a reason to play, save for trying out game types in advance of a casino trip or something; and back when I used to play this 10 years ago it really wasn’t, I mean there was the rewards factor but to give you an idea the cost of the free trip to Vegas is 3,000,000 points. So that’s why I wandered away from it initially.
But these new developments add a little more purpose. Item #1 obviously being the cash contests, though enough people are still playing this that you’ll basically need to land a royal (or similar super rare high-value hands) to stand a chance at winning even a daily for $25 or so. Each contest gives you a limited amount of daily tries, ranging from 5 to 10 usually.
The other thing is training, though you’ll need to pay for a Gold subscription (also purchaseable with reward points) to make use of that. I’ve long lamented the lack of good video poker trainers, with the ancient (but very good) Frugal Video Poker still kinda the top option in this area, and this one seems to have some good features (and they have a mobile app now so between that or just running in a web browser it would be simple to play on your phone). The premium subscription also eliminates the video ads, and promises to allow you to “play games before they hit casino floors”, though I couldn’t dig up any more detail on that … could actually be of value to advantage players if you can spot a weakness in a game they’re testing out before anyone else does, these games are not immune as several different Ultimate X vulnerabilities over the years have shown.