Sierra Games

Hoyle Slots and Video Poker

Last updated: October 23, 2026

Overview

Hoyle Slots & Video Poker is a casino game developed by Sierra On-Line and sold under the Sierra Attractions label12. It first went on sale in 1999: Sierra’s own product page listed it in August 1999 as a “Win95/PMac CD” at 19.95, "available now"[^ref-22], and Chips & Bits mail-order ads in *Computer Games Strategy Plus* (August 1999) and *Computer Games* (December 1999) carried it at 19.9934. A revised v1.0.0.1 PC/Mac hybrid disc, with a disc volume dated February 2000, followed5, and MobyGames records a UK release in 200067. Amazon’s listing titles it “Hoyle Slots And Video Poker 2000 with Bonus Horse Racing (Win/Mac)”8. It belongs to Sierra’s Hoyle line, which PCGamingWiki groups under Hoyle’s Official Book of Games, a series that began with Volume 1 in 19899. Wikipedia’s Hoyle Casino article lists “Hoyle Slots & Video Poker (with Horse Racing)” among that series’ spin-offs, dated 199910, while Sierra Chest catalogues the v1.0.0.1 box under the title “Hoyle Slots & Video Poker 2” with a first release of 20002.

The retail description promised “all the payoffs of casino Slots and video Poker without leaving home,” with Las Vegas sights and sounds, quick hints and strategies, and a bonus Horse Racing game811. Amazon’s product description gives the content as 275 variations of slots, “from classic one-armed bandits to modern video slots,” and 44 variations of video poker including Joker Poker, Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild8; Sierra’s 1999 page put it as “Over 275 variations of Slots” and “More than 44 variations of Video Poker”11. Sierra’s 1999 listing gave separate Windows 95/98 and Macintosh CD requirements11, and the original v1.0.0.0 Windows disc is ring-marked “VIDEO POKER W 95/98”12. The v1.0.0.1 reissue combined both platforms on one PC/Mac CD-ROM25.

Story Summary

As a casino game, Hoyle Slots & Video Poker has no narrative. Each player starts with a bankroll of $5,000, or a smaller amount if the player chooses, and plays the machines13; when the money runs out, the game offers to reset the account and erase all statistics6. Only one person plays at a time, but the game supports multiple player identities and keeps a record of where each has won and lost money6. Each player also carries a credit card: everyone starts with a green card and can advance to higher levels of card by winning money13.

A bonus Horse Racing game is included alongside the slots and video poker86. Sierra described it as “Hoyle’s new computer Horse Racing game”11, and the help file calls it “Hoyle Horse Derby 2000”13.

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

MobyGames describes the game as single-player and mouse/keyboard controlled, with a first-person perspective6. The player inserts cash by clicking a machine’s cash slot; each spin draws on the credits in the machine, and when those run out the machine takes money from the player’s remaining cash pot. Winnings are added to the machine’s credits, and the player may cash out at any time6.

Amazon’s listing and Sierra’s 1999 product page add that quick tips and hints give advice during play, and that a Practice Mode “alerts you to mistakes and shows you how to improve your strategy”811.

Structure and Progression

MobyGames describes no campaign or progression structure: the player chooses machines and stakes, and can cash out of a machine at any time6. Stakes are fixed per machine session; to change them, the player must cash out and start again at the higher setting6.

  • Slot machines and video slots: playable as 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500 or 1,000 machines6
  • Video poker: playable as 1, 5, 25 or 100 machines6

The classic slots are all multi-coin machines. On most of them each coin in play activates another pay column; the Progressive machines “use multiple paylines instead of successive pay columns”, so they can pay diagonally as well as horizontally13. On a 1,000 three-coin machine, a maximum bet costs 3,000 per spin6.

The help file gives a payoff rate for each video poker machine. Easy Money pays 100%, A-10 Shun 99.1% and Wild Party 99%, while Joker’s Wild is “below 92%”13. Hang 10 is listed at “below 95%”, and “offers nice payoffs for the Full House and Straight, but low payoffs for Two Pair”13. MobyGames summarises the range as 92% to 100%6.

Machines and Variations

Slot Machines:613

  • Alien Invasion, All Stars, Bug Out, Cover the Spread
  • Diamond Frenzy, Double Diamond Jackpot, Double Red White & Blue
  • Flying High, Funny Money, Gone Fishin’, Hoyle Flush
  • Jurassic, Monsters, Progressive, Red Cherry
  • Red White & Blue, Safari, Shoes, Sweet Success
  • Triple Diamond, Triple Play, Wild Peppers

Video Poker Machines:613

  • Jacks or Better: Easy Money, Jacks Back, Crawdad
  • Joker Poker: Joker Poker, Joker’s Wild
  • Deuces Wild: Wild Country, Born 2 Be Wild, Wild Thing, Wild Party
  • Tens or Better: A-10 Shun, Hang 10

Video Slots Machines:613

  • Break the Bank, Three Wishes, Road Pizza

Puzzles and Mechanics

There are no puzzles. Slot play is luck-based. Video poker involves hold/discard decisions, and the game’s hints and Practice Mode are pitched at improving that strategy8.

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

No contemporary press reviews were found in the sources consulted. MobyGames lists no Moby Score for the game (“n/a”)6.

Modern Assessment

User data is thin. Amazon.ca shows a single 1-star customer rating and no written reviews8. GameFAQs gives a user average of “Good” from 2 ratings14.

Aggregate Scores:

  • GameFAQs: “Good” (2 user ratings)14
  • Amazon.ca: 1.0/5 (1 rating)8

MobyGames records an ELSPA rating of 3+6. Amazon lists the North American product as “Rated Everyone”8.

Development

Origins

The game is part of the Hoyle line that Sierra began in 1989 with Hoyle’s Official Book of Games: Volume 19. Wikipedia classifies it as a spin-off of the Hoyle Casino series10.

Production

Sierra Chest and PCGamingWiki credit development to Sierra On-Line19. MobyGames lists Sierra On-Line, Inc. as publisher6, while the US box carries the Sierra Attractions label2. No individual development credits have been documented. Sierra’s product page was still offering the game at $19.95 in October 199915.

The help file says the game can be played with or without the CD in the drive, but without it “some features of the game are disabled”, including “the horse racing announcer’s speech and several of the animations in the various games”136. Sierra’s product page likewise noted that the “hard drive version does not include character voices or animations”11.

Technical Achievements

No technical innovations are documented for this release. MobyGames hosts screenshots of the Windows version16, and LaunchBox holds gameplay screenshots plus North American and UK packaging images17.

Technical Specifications

Sierra’s 1999 product page gave these requirements11:

  • Windows (minimum): Windows 95/98, 486/66, 8 MB RAM, SVGA 640x480 at 256 colours, mouse, 2X CD-ROM; a Windows-compatible sound card optional; Internet features need a 28,000 bps modem (“Internet play not available on Macintosh”)
  • Macintosh (minimum): Power PC or Power Mac G3 including iMac, System 7.5.3 or higher, 16 MB RAM (with virtual memory on), 640x480 at 256 colours, 2X CD-ROM
  • Macintosh (recommended): Power Mac G3 including iMac, System 8.1 or higher, 32 MB RAM, 640x480 at millions of colours, 4X CD-ROM

MobyGames lists the UK Windows release as requiring Windows 95, a Pentium, 16 MB RAM and a 2X CD-ROM drive, with 256 colours at 640×4807.

The higher requirements on Newegg’s Encore Software listing (first listed March 29, 2007) belong to a different product. That listing’s model number, 705381330264, is the barcode Redump records for Encore’s Hoyle Slots & Video Poker 3 disc (7 05381 33026 4)1819. For reference, Newegg lists 640x480 at 16-bit colour, a 4x CD-ROM drive, 65 MB of disk space, 16 MB RAM (32 MB recommended), a Pentium 133 MHz and Windows 98SE/ME/2000 SP4/XP SP118.

Version History

VersionDatePlatformNotes
1.0.0.01999Windows 95/98 CD-ROM (US)Original disc, ring code including “S7076010” and “VIDEO POKER W 95/98”, volume dated February–March 1999; playable demos include Hoyle Internet Casino and HeadRush12. Sierra listed the game as a “Win95/PMac CD” at $19.95, “available now”, in August 199911.
1.0.0.12000PC/Mac hybrid CD-ROM (US)Flip-top box, UPC 0-20626-71035-02. Ring code S7076011; volume dated November 1999 to February 20005.
UK / European release2000WindowsPublished by Sierra On-Line, EAN 33485421142657. MobyGames lists the alternate title “Hoyle Slots & Video Poker UK”6. GameFAQs lists “Hoyle Slots + Video Poker (EU)” and a European release in 200014.
Hoyle Slots & Video Poker 3 (Encore)2005WindowsA different product, not a reissue of this game. Redump’s Encore disc is titled Hoyle Slots & Video Poker 3, volume dated June 28, 2005, barcode 7 05381 33026 419. Newegg’s Encore listing (model 705381330264) advertises “39 different slots and video poker machines”18.

GameFAQs also gives a release year of 2003 in its game details, without saying which edition that refers to14. The Internet Archive holds a disc image titled “Hoyle Slots & Video Poker (Sierra) (2001)”; the item does not say which version it holds20.

Newegg’s Encore listing names machines not in MobyGames’ list for the original, among them Cold Cash, 5 Card Draw, Jacks or Better and Shooting Stars186, which fits its being the separate Hoyle Slots & Video Poker 319.

Easter Eggs and Trivia

  • The v1.0.0.1 PC/Mac CD-ROM also contains a playable demo of Berkeley’s “Cosmic Consensus”25
  • Further playable demos on that disc: Acrophobia, Hoyle Board Games 3, Hoyle Card Games 3, Hoyle Word Games and You Don’t Know Jack Offline25
  • The original v1.0.0.0 disc carried a different demo set, including Hoyle Internet Casino, HeadRush and You Don’t Know Jack: Sports: The Netshow12
  • Sierra Chest catalogues the v1.0.0.1 box as “Hoyle Slots & Video Poker 2”2. It is not a sequel: the two US discs carry consecutive ring codes, S7076010 and S7076011125

Legacy

Sales and Commercial Impact

No sales figures for Hoyle Slots and Video Poker have been found.

Publisher Transition

According to Wikipedia, publication of the Hoyle Casino series moved from Sierra Entertainment to Encore, Inc. after 200510. PCGamingWiki lists Encore Software as a publisher of Hoyle Slots & Video Poker9. Encore’s own disc, though, was a different product, Hoyle Slots & Video Poker 3, mastered in 200519, which Newegg first listed on March 29, 200718.

  • Game Manual: included with the retail package; MobyGames quotes it on the no-CD play mode6
  • Help file: the Mac help file (SLOTSVP.PDF, created March 1999) is preserved in the Macintosh Garden manuals collection on the Internet Archive13

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

  • Not currently available on GOG or Steam
  • No known digital distribution currently available. Encore’s Hoyle Slots & Video Poker 3 is a different product19

Download / Preservation

Manuals & Extras

  • Original manual included with retail package6
  • Help file (PDF) – in-game help, Mac version13

See Also

References

Footnotes

  1. Sierra Chest – Hoyle Slots & Video Poker 2 – developer, publisher, first release ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. Sierra Chest – Hoyle Slots & Video Poker 2: Packaging & content – PC/MAC CD-ROM v1.0.0.1, flip-top box, UPC, included demos, engine, first release ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  3. Computer Games Strategy Plus, August 1999 (Internet Archive) – Chips & Bits ad, scan leaf 103: “Hoyle Slots & Vid Pkr 05/99 $19.99” ↩

  4. Computer Games, Issue 109, December 1999 (Internet Archive) – Chips & Bits ad, scan leaf 159: “Hoyle Slots & Vid Pkr 08/99 $19.99” ↩

  5. Redump – Hoyle Slots & Video Poker (USA, v1.0.0.1) – PC/Mac hybrid, ring S7076011, volume dates 1999-11-08 and 2000-02-04, playable demos ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  6. MobyGames – Hoyle Slots & Video Poker – release year, publisher, perspective, ELSPA rating, machine list, denominations, payout rates, no-CD manual quote ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21 ↩22 ↩23

  7. MobyGames – Hoyle Slots & Video Poker releases and specs – read via the MobyGames API: UK release 2000, Sierra On-Line, EAN 3348542114265, Windows 95, Pentium, 16 MB RAM, 2X CD-ROM, 256 colours, 640×480 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. Amazon Canada – Hoyle Slots And Video Poker 2000 with Bonus Horse Racing (Win/Mac) – brand/manufacturer Sierra Attractions, Windows and Macintosh, Rated Everyone, product description (275 slot / 44 video poker variations), features, customer rating ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  9. PCGamingWiki – Hoyle Slots & Video Poker – developer, publishers (Sierra On-Line, Encore Software), Windows 2000, series listing ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  10. Wikipedia – Hoyle Casino – lists Hoyle Slots & Video Poker (with Horse Racing) as a spin-off; series publication moved to Encore after 2005 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. Sierra Attractions – Hoyle Slots & Video Poker product page (Wayback, 24 Aug 1999) – “Win95/PMac CD $19.95 (available now)”, 275/44 variations, Windows and Mac requirements, horse racing, hard-drive version note, Copyright 1999 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  12. Redump – Hoyle Slots & Video Poker (USA, v1.0.0.0) – original Windows disc, ring “S7076010 … VIDEO POKER W 95/98”, volume dates 1999-02-22 and 1999-03-11, contents and demos ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  13. Hoyle Slots & Video Poker help file, SLOTSVP.PDF (Macintosh Garden manuals collection, Internet Archive) – file hoyleslotspoker_help.pdf: bankroll, credit cards, machine list with pay columns, Progressive paylines, video poker payoffs, Hoyle Horse Derby 2000, no-CD mode ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12

  14. GameFAQs – Hoyle Slots and Video Poker – European release 2000, EU title, release field, user ratings ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  15. Sierra Attractions – Hoyle Slots & Video Poker product page (Wayback, 12 Oct 1999) – still listed at $19.95, “available now”, October 1999 ↩

  16. MobyGames – Hoyle Slots & Video Poker screenshots – Windows screenshots ↩

  17. LaunchBox Games Database – Hoyle Slots and Video Poker – release year, platform, box, disc and screenshot images ↩ ↩2

  18. Newegg – Hoyle Slots and Video Poker (Encore Software) – Encore Software edition: system requirements, ESRB, machine count, first listed March 29, 2007 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  19. Redump – Hoyle Slots & Video Poker 3 (USA, Encore) – Encore edition, barcode 7 05381 33026 4, volume date 2005-06-28 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  20. Internet Archive – Hoyle Slots & Video Poker (Sierra) (2001) – preserved CD-ROM item ↩ ↩2

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