 Where
did poker start and how did the
game come to be known as poker? The origins
of Poker are widely uncertain. There are
almost as many likely answers as there are
variations of the game.
Moreover, there seems to be no clear or
direct early ancestory of the game. It is
more likely that Poker derived its present
day form from elements of many different
games. The consensus is that because of
it's basic principal, its birth is a very
old one.
So,
where did poker come from and how did it
get the name 'poker'?
Here are some widely recognized theories
on the origins of poker:
China
The most well-liked belief is that it was
invented by the Chinese around 900 A.D.,
possibly resulting from the Chinese dominoes.
On New Year's Eve, 969, the Emperor Mu-tsung
is reported to have played "domino
cards" with his wife.
Persia
Others state that this card game originates
from the Persian game "as nas".
This is a 5-player Persian game, which requires
a particular deck of 25 cards with 5 suits.
Nevertheless, this is only recorded back
to the 17th century.
France
Another speculation calls on the French
"poque". The French who settled
New Orleans played Poque, a card game involving
bluffing and betting. This was stated to
be the original use of a deck consisting
of spades, diamonds, clubs, and hearts.
Remains of cards have been tentatively dated
to 12th or 13th century in Egypt.
Germany
There are 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!"
India
Some suggest that modern cards
originated from the Indian card game of
Ganjifa.
Hindu
Some say the name poker may even have been
derived from the Hindu word, pukka.
Pickpockets
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, adding an r to make
it "poker." The thought was that
if the sharps used the word "poker"
in front of their victims, those wise to
the underworld slang would not surmise the
change.
Magicians
There are those who also believe that "poke"
probably came from "hocus-pocus",
a term widely used by magicians.
We can see that narrowing down the precise
origin of the game or the name it was derived
from becomes as tricky as pulling a royal
flush.
History
of Poker in the United States
The history of poker in the United States
has a bit more reliability.
Jonathan H. Green makes one of the earliest
written references to Poker in 1834. In
his writing, Green mentions rules to what
he called the "cheating game,"
which was then being played on Mississippi
riverboats. He soon realized that his was
the first such reference to the game, and
since it was not mentioned in the current
American Hoyle, he chose to call the game
Poker.
The game he described was played with 20
cards, using only the aces, kings, queens,
jacks and tens. Two to four people could
play, and each was dealt five cards. By
the time Green wrote about it, poker had
become the number one cheating game on the
Mississippi boats, receiving even more action
than Three-Card Monte. Most people taken
by Three-Card Monte thought the 20-card
poker seemed more a legitimate game, and
they came back time and time again. It would
certainly appear, then, that Poker was developed
by the cardsharps.
Poker traveled from New Orleans by steamboat
up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The
game then extended via wagon and train.
Modifications such as stud poker, the draw,
and the straight became popular, during
the Civil War. European influence of poker
ended when the joker was introduced as a
wild card in 1875.
In 1910, Nevada made it a crime to run
a betting game. The Attorney General of
California affirmed that draw poker was
based upon skill and consequently the anti
gambling laws could not stop it. But stud
poker was illegal, as it was based solely
on chance. With this verdict, draw poker
games developed and grew. This caused Nevada
to reverse itself in 1931 and legalize casino
gambling.
Longevity
With all the wide-ranging theories on the
origin of Poker, one thing becomes clear...this
is a game which has stood the test of time
and becomes more rich and full with each
generation. That is the joy of "Dealer's
Choice" poker. Each person who makes
their own variation adds another portion
to the immense and charming history of poker.
The game of Poker has evolved through the
years, through many backroom games to the
present day casinos around 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.
Today, Poker is cautiously regulated by
gambling laws, and saloons have given way
to casinos, but Poker is played more than
any other card game on earth. It has grown
into a sporting event, with competitions
and tournaments all around the world. Tournaments
take place almost every week of the year
somewhere in the world.
If you compare the prizes of major sporting
events, you will find that the monetary
outcome of any given event in Poker would
ummm...stack up. Poker today is one of the
fastest growing, but hardly recognized sporting
events. The pinnacle of the poker world,
The
World Series of Poker, attracts players
from all over the world every year to compete
for money and titles as the world's top
Poker players.
In the 1990s, Poker became trendy on the
Internet. Software advances made it possible
for live poker games where players from
around the globe could pull up a chair to
an online poker table and bet against players
in other countries and even other continents.
Poker will always be around and will continue
to grow and flourish like so many other
past times. There will always be a game
to play, money to be won, and crowns to
be worn.
Thanks and we'll see you at the tables!
KAP
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