The History of Poker

Poker has been played for generations, but there really isn’t a consensus about its origins. Unlike other popular games such as Chess, it is very difficult to trace the game’s linage and evolution over time. We do know that since it’s foundation are so easy to grasp that it must be quite old. We first hear about recognisable versions of the game by modern standards in the early nineteenth century.

Jonathan Green wrote about it being played on Mississippi river boats, and called it “The Cheating Game”, and later “Poker”. It was quite popular at the time. Historians believe that it was seen as a more legitimate way to gamble, and less susceptible to rigging than other games such as Three-Card Monte.

While some sources say that the name comes from the French game “Poque,” others think that it’s a reference to a German game called “Pochspiel.” Another theory is that is term came from the idiomatic slang term “poke,” that was popular among thieves and pickpockets of that era in America.

The fact of the matter remains that these games had significant differences from today’s game of Poker, and many experts now believe that it was in fact developed independently during the 18th Century around the Mississippi River in America. The game has truly exploded in popularity all across the world. Pubs and saloons found that hosting a poker table was great for business, and the game quickly developed. In fact, Poker became so popular, that the colourful vocabulary has contributed many terms and expressions to our everyday vernacular.

Poker Expressions Used in Everyday Speech; “Ace in the hole, Ace up one’s sleeve, beats me, blue chip, call one’s bluff, cash in, high roller, pass the buck, poker face ,stack up, up the ante, when the chips are down, wild card.”

In many areas of the country today, poker has been regulated, and casinos now host many new players. In recent years, it’s become so popular that tournaments are often televised, and celebrates are made in this new sport. Online poker has also exploded in popularity since the advent of the Internet, and today poker players from around the world compete for fun, status, and money.

The future looks bright for this game, whatever its origins. More and more people play it every day and the money to be won in the larger tournaments continues to reach dizzy new heights.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 at 10:05 am and is filed under Gambling News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.