The History of Poker

The History of Poker

Modern poker can be found referred to in 1834 by a gentleman called Jonathan Green. He refers to the rules of a game that was being played on Mississippi riverboats that he called 'the cheating game'. The game had no official name at that time, so he chose to call the game Poker.

The origin of the word Poker has also been well debated. Many the dictionaries and game historians say that it comes from an eighteenth-century French game, poque.
There are many other references to pochspiel, which is a German game. In pochspiel, there is an element of bluffing, where players would indicate whether they wanted to pass or open by rapping on the table and saying, "Ich Poche!"
Some say it may have come the Hindu word, pukka.
Another possible explanation for the word poker, is that it came from a version of an underworld slang word "poke", a term used by pickpockets. Cardsharps who used the 20-card cheating game to relieve a sucker from his poke may have used that word among themselves.
It has also been believed that "poke" probably came from "hocus-pocus", a term widely used by magicians.

Poker appears to have been developed by the cardsharps of the time and traveled from its origins in New Orleans via steamboat up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and further by wagon and train as the population moved around.
Various modifications appeared such as stud poker and the draw. The straight became popular, during the Civil War. The joker was introduced in 1875 as a wild card.

The original game of Poker later evolved to include 32 cards, and eventually the modern day deck of 52, not counting the two Jokers. It has come a long way from the many backroom bar games to the present day casinos around the world and even on the internet where players can pit their skills against opponents from all over the world.
Its history is rich with famous places and characters. For example, during the Wild West period of United States history, a saloon with a Poker table could be found in just about every town from coast to coast.
In 1910, Nevada made it a felony to run a betting game. The Attorney General of California declared that draw poker was based upon skill and therefore the anti gambling laws could not stop it. But stud poker was illegal, as it was based solely on chance. With this decision, draw poker games developed and grew. This caused Nevada to reverse itself in 1931 and legalize casino gambling.

Today, Poker is carefully regulated by gambling laws, and saloons have given way to casinos, cardrooms and online poker rooms, but Poker and now Texas Holdem is played more than any other card game in the world. It has grown into a sporting event, with competitions and tournaments that take place weekly all around the world.

If you compare the prizes of major sporting events, you will find that the monetary value of poker prizes far exceed that of other sporting events. Even though poker is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, it remains barely recognized. Poker will always be around and will continue to grow and flourish like so many other past times.

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