Why is Video Poker Being Overlooked at New Casinos?

New online casinos are seeming launched on a weekly basis. Some will follow a kind of blueprint, essentially offering the same games and bonuses as the rest, perhaps with a slight variation on theme or style. Others will be a bit bolder, trying to do something fresh and new to stand out from the crowd.

However, one thing many of new online casinos seem to share is a lack of offering for video poker. It’s a strange decision for a game genre that has been a staple of both online and land-based casinos for many years now. To be fair, not all new online casinos completely forgot video poker, but the majority will have a severely limited choice, at times ‘burying’ the small selection by not given video poker a dedicated section on the site.

Casinos moving from virtual to live games

The question is why would many casinos pass over the chance to offer video poker? There are many reasons to speculate on, including the fact there is a push away from virtual table and card games to the live dealer tables. But, as you might expect, the latter is much more expensive to run than a game powered by am RNG (random number generator).

One other factor might be the prominence given to online slots over traditional casino games. Video poker has remained largely the same over the last couple of decades; someone from the 1990s would have no problem recognising today’s video pokers with simple graphics and ubiquitous blue background. The same couldn’t be said for slots, which have evolved to almost resemble video games in recent years.

Indeed, if slots are prominently placed on a new casino site it also should be noted that they are potentially much more profitable for a casino. The RTP (Return to Player) for a slot game will usually sit between 90-96%, meaning the casino has a built-in house edge of up to 10%. For video poker, the RTP is a lot higher, which tends to benefit the player in the long-term.

Some established casinos have lots of video poker

The RTP is, of course, very important, especially if you are playing for high stakes. For example, Ruby Fortune casino, an established operator who provide dozens of video pokers - many of which can be played on Ruby Fortune mobile app - provide a complete RTP breakdown for all games, and the contrast between slots and video poker couldn’t be starker: 99.14% for video pokers like Tens or Better, 99.26% for Aces and Faces, compared with 90.34% for popular slots like King Cashalot.

It’s probably unfair to say that new online casinos eschew the promotion of video pokers for reasons of profit alone. There are, of course, some more cultural reasons for not offering them. Casino games are changing and riding a wave of technology, so it does make sense to push the newest 3D slot machine or live dealer game ahead of the traditional video poker. Those are the ‘carrots’ that catch most new players’ attention, as they have a selling point as something new and bold.

But we do now that video pokers still have their place in the pantheon of casino games. Just head off to Las Vegas and consider that the mega casinos still have rows and rows of video poker machines, even at the bars off the main casino floor you will find video pokers installed inside the physical bar tops. And, that’s the reason they should be given some respect by online casinos. They were never meant to be the main event, they were supposed to be diversionary games, ones that gave players a break from the strategy heavy main casino. New casinos are missing a trick by not offering them.