5 Classic MS-DOS Poker Games You Can Play Right Now

The Internet Archive has now released more than 2,300 classic video games for free in-browser play including a handful of poker games. While most gamers are tickled at the thought of nostalgic favourites like Wolfenstein, Prince of Persia and Super Street Fighter II there are plenty of obscure games to be found when you comb through the massive free library. 

We spent a couple hours perusing the database to see if there was anything poker-related and, it turns out, there is.

If you’re ready to deal with a few glitches and awkward controls then you’ll be treated to some of the greatest 16-bit poker action around.

In addition to the following titles there’s also Amarillo Slim’s Dealer’s Choice but we couldn’t get past the second screen unfortunately.

Ante Up at the Friday Night Poker Club

The 1990 classic Ante Up at the Friday Night Poker Club lets you play Five-Card Stud, Five-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud and most notably Texas Hold’em.

It’s one of the first games that let you play Texas Hold’em and lets you play against colorful characters Abdul, Chen, Mack and Harry.

We found the game a bit glitchy but hey it’s over 20 years old so we’ll give it a break!

Strip Poker

At one point Strip Poker was on the cutting age of NSFW content on your computer.

These days the pixelated graphics are laughable and your grandma probably wouldn’t bat an eye at this game (your grandma is super cool, btw).

Regardless this is a classic MS DOS poker game and probably the most famous early poker game on the PC. Of course we did a piece on the history of Strip Poker on PC.

Pro tip: Always pick Kim to play against, She’s a total LAGfish!

Hoyle Classic Card Games

While Hoyle Classic Card Games doesn’t feature any poker it does have Gin Rummy, Hearts and Bridge with a pretty good presentation from classic PC developer Sierra.

Everyone needs a break from poker every now and then. And you can play against Graham from King’s Quest!

Rise of the Dragon 

Rise of the Dragon is a classic adventure game with a Blade Runner-type setting.

It doesn’t feature poker per se but there’s an epic poker game going on in a futuristic strip club.

Rise of the Dragon was once ranked as one of the 100 best video games of all time.

Oregon Trail

We won’t tell you if there’s any poker in it or not; just try to get to Oregon – we dare you!