The History of Poker

The origins of poker can be traced back to antiquity. While few of the games played thousands of years ago would appear familiar to modern poker players, they played an important role in developing the basic structures and principles that would shape the evolution of the modern game.

Historians tells us that the Chinese, Persians and Egyptians were all playing poker-like games many thousands of years ago. Early gamblers used paper thin slices of ivory or dominoes to play their games of skill and risk, and these games were later transferred to games that utilised paper playing cards.

The first truly poker-like games came to prominence in the 17th century when the games Pochen and Poque first became popular in Germany and France respectively. Developed from the Spanish three card game Primero, both used the concepts of bluffing and hierarchical hand values to enhance game play.

As the European powers colonised the New World, the game of Poque spread into Canada and then down the east coast of America, gradually morphing into the modern version of the game. The first official reference to the game by its current name was made in 1834 by Jonathan Green, in his work ‘An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling‘.

By the time that the first shots of the American Civil War were fired, five card stud poker had become the most popular card game in America, and was played in saloons stretching from the east to west coasts of the continent. Towards the end of the century seven card stud gradually begin to eclipse five card stud due to the greater strategic subtlety of the game.

The dominance of seven card stud poker continued well into the 1970s as the poker game of choice for the majority of Las Vegas casinos. It was only when the World Series of Poker Hold ‘em main event began attracting attention in the late 1970s that Texas hold ‘em slowly started to replace seven card stud as the most popular poker format in casinos in the United States.

Today Texas hold ‘em is easily the most popular version of poker worldwide, and is played in the main event of the World Series of Poker. Since Texas hold ‘em has come to the fore poker has enjoyed as massive surge in popularity, boosted the development of online poker rooms, and the growth of tournament poker as a spectator sport with massive television audiences.

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