Here is a brief history of poker, as you may know poker is one of the world’s most popular casino card games.
Players can be found just about everywhere on earth and play can take place anywhere from a kitchen table to an elegant casino card room.
Modern players even have the option of playing online in some of the web’s most sophisticated virtual poker rooms. But where did this popular game originate?
The ancient origins of the game is much debated. One theory shows that a game similar to poker was invented by the Chinese sometime before the time period of 969 AD based on a report that the Emperor Mu Tsung played domino cards with his wife on New Year’s eve.
Treasure Cards
Another theory traces the development of playing cards back to the Egyptians in the 12th and 13th centuries with “Treasure Cards” being used for a variety of gambling games in 16th century Persia. The Persian game of “As Nas” which involved rounds of betting and a deck of 25 cards.
But poker game began to take recognizable shape in 16th century Spain with a game called Primero where three cards were dealt to each player who not only bet against each other but tried to bluff while holding poor cards.
Betting and Bluffing
This bet and bluff action has resulted in the game being confirmed as the earliest version of modern day poker. The Spanish game is believed to have influenced both France, where a game called Poque became popular, and in Germany the game was called Pochen. But it’s the French game that made it to America.
French colonists brought the game to Canada and from there to New Orleans.
So, yes, the Big Easy and the Mississippi River Boats are the birth places of poker in the United States.
We can even find the earliest written evidence of the game from 1834. Amusingly enough, the first written record for poker in the United States refers to it as the “cheating game” and its biggest competition was the notorious game of 3 card monte.
Poker owes its rise in popularity to the fact that it was somewhat more honest back then than 3 card monte was.
From the river boats, poker made its way west to the saloons of the new frontier, where some of the most memorable poker stories come from.
Poker game was also popular during the Civil War on both sides of the Mason Dixon line.
Since it requires nothing more than a pack of easily transportable cards and anything from pennies to matchsticks can work as chips, poker has moved around the globe to become the most popular card game on earth.