Card games and games of chance have been played all over the world for millenniaby various civilizations. However, you don’t have to travel very far back in time to learn about the origin of the modern game of poker.
Poker is believed to have originated in New Orleans back in the early 1800s. The name may have come from the name of a French game, poque, but the game itself supposedlyresembled a Persian game known as as nas. Of course, no player today would recognize this earliest iterationof the game. Poker was originally played with a 20-card deck and four players would bet on which hand they thought was most valuable.
As the century progressed, poker moved up the Mississippi River, where it was played on steamboats. It spread to the Northeast and Midwest during and immediately after the Civil War. In the latter half of the 19th century, poker made its way out West thanks to the movement of pioneers and gold miners. It was during this period that poker became connected to the Wild West, gambling saloons, and violence.
While the game of poker was making its way around North America, the rules were also evolving. Players began using a 52-card deck in the mid-1800s and new hand rankings emerged. The flush, five cards of a single suit, was added, followed by the straight, five cards in sequential order. Various versions of poker also started to pop up. Stud poker emerged in California and eventually this would evolve into the game known as Texas hold’em in the early 20th century.
If you are very familiar with poker now, it is likely due to the establishmentof the World Series of Poker in the 1970s, the rise of online poker, and some dramatic million-dollar wins by unknown players at televised tournaments in the early 2000s.
