The History of Poker

We all know the popularity of poker is at an all-time high.  The recent television coverage and number of books has brought an influx of new players to the game.  As a result, it is a great time to be both a beginner and an experienced poker player.  The beginners have the opportunity to take advantage of the online poker promotions available.  In addition, the experienced players have the opportunity to take advantage of the mistakes that the beginners are going to make.  One thing is for sure; the poker cycle is not going to recede any time soon.

There are many important facets of the poker game that are explained throughout our site; however, we feel as if the most important thing is to talk about the history of our game.  History lessons can assure our community how the game was developed as well as help avoid mistakes made in the past.

Poker history generally starts as an image in people’s minds about an old western movie with cowboys playing 5-card draw.  However, the actual origins of poker are not that well-known.  The oldest regards to a card game date back to the tenth century a.d. and the Chinese.  There have also been several unearthing of card-like fragments used once by Egyptians in the 12th century.  These two earlier claims have not been proven to be actually games like poker, yet materials similar to that of the modern day card.

It is well-known that citizens of 16th century India played a 96 card betting game called Ganjifa.  Also, we know that 17th century Persians used 25 cards of five suits to play a game called As Nas.  The 52 card deck, however, is mostly attributed to European countries.  France is credited with defining the four current suits (Hearts, Spades, Clubs, & Diamonds) in the early 15th century with their game called Poque.  It is very possible that the word “Poker” is derived from Poque.  

Germans contend that “Poker” is a derivative of one of their early 16th century games; the card game pochspiel of the bluffing game pochen.  Many games played in the west like “brag” and “Faro” come from the British heritage.  Either way, poker made its way to the United States in the late 18th century and never stopped spreading throughout North America.  The games of “Draw” and “Stud” were variations of “Poque” that became popular among civilians and soldiers of the civil war.

Some countries may claim responsibility for the wonderful game of poker that we all love to play but the truth is it was an international effort in its founding.  Either way, we hope that you now know a little more about the history of the game.