The history of Poker

The history of poker

Basic principle
Poker is the most famous card game in the world. There are several variations of the game, however they all operate on the same basic level: Players place wagers into a central pot, which is then awarded to them should they hold the best hand of cards at the end. This type of game is called a vying game.

In 1829, an English actor by the name of Joseph Crowell reported about a type of vying game being played in the gambling houses and saloons of New Orleans. It involved 4 players betting on a deck of 20 cards, the most valuable winning. In this version of the game there was no "draw" and the range of combinations was limited. The ultimate unbeatable hand was 4 Aces, or 4 Aces and a King. This is different from the classic Poker of today, where the Royal flush can be matched with another suit.


The origin of the actual poker game
The actual poker game has since evolved from varying influences. Such as the Indian game Ganjifa, the German pochen, the Renaissance game of Primero, the English game of Bragg and even the early Persian game of As Nas. However, according to many dictionaries and game historians, the most likely origins lie with the French game Poque, as that game involved making bets and bluffing and as the word Poque itself is familiar to the word Poker. One theory is that the game of poker was developed by French settlers in New Orleans and that the southern accent anglicized the word Poque into the pronunciation of Pokuh, which then became Poker. Although Poque was originally played with 3 players and 32 cards, the game may well have been created within small communities who had knowledge already of the 20 card game (mentioned by Joseph Crowell, check previous paragraph).

The earliest written reference to poker was written in 1834 by an American named Jonathan H. Green. In 1813, Jonathan was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana and by 1829, he had ran away from his employers, been thrown in jail and picked up extensive card playing habits. He is now famously known as the "reformed gambler" significant because he was the man who made one of the first references to the card game we know today, as poker. This happened in 1834, when he mentioned the rules of a game he called "the cheating game", a game at that time played on the river boats of the Mississippi. The "cheating game" was seen to be far more legitimate than the other popular card game of that time, which was called Three Card Monte. Players seem to come back, again and again, for more of the "cheating game". Some sources claim that Jonathan also was the one who gave this "cheating game" the name Poker. Other articles do not agree with this.
By the mid 1830's, the 20 card game started losing its footing to a similar game which was being played with a full 52 card deck. This may well have been to allow for more players at the table. Eventually the 20 card game faded away. The last remnants were being noted in 1857, where the author of a New York City guidebook mentioned it as "one of the most dangerous pitfalls to be found in the city". The 20 card game did not last and only warranted the briefest of mentions in the 1845 edition of Hoyle's Games, by Henry F. Anners.

To summarize, it can thus be stated; that although the origin of the word Poker might be European, the actual game itself evolved in America. Moreover, around 1875 the European influence on poker ended anyway, because around that time "the Joker" was introduced in Europe as a wild card on the card deck. This "Joker" was not considered suitable for poker and thus a difference between American and European decks of cards appeared. The above mentioned facts however are still too little to make a proven statement about the real origins of Poker. These origins are still varied and remain very much open to debate until this day.

The different variations and their popularity
Over hundreds of years, the game has evolved to such an extent that there are now many different variations, including draw Five Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Texas Hold\'em Poker and many others. Through-out the years three games have successively dominated poker: First it was draw then (Five & Seven Card) Stud and finally Hold'em. During first centuries these games were particularly popular as limit-betting games. Each type of poker game cornered over two thirds of the market during their ascendancy.

draw was the first dominating poker game. From the time that poker appeared until some time round the 1930's, draw was far ahead in popularity. What helped draw poker to become even more popular was the development in Nevada around the beginning of the 20th century. In 1910, Nevada made it a felony to run a betting game. However, the Attorney General of California declared that draw poker was based upon skill and therefore the anti gambling laws could not stop it. Stud poker (the main threat for the popularity of draw at that time) on the other hand was still illegal as it was based solely on chance. With the help of this law, draw poker games developed and grew even more popular, compared with the other types of poker.

Then with time, Nevada legally reversed itself, which finally led to legalization of casino gambling in 1931. This new law gave new chances to (Five and Seven Card) Stud poker. It took the lead very fast, thriving in the armed forces during WWII. Stud poker kept its position until the 80s.

After that Hold'em became popular. The popularity of Hold'em happened together with the rise of the Nevada casino industry in the fifties and sixties. It finally took over as the most popular poker game in the 80's. Apparently the main reason why Hold'em overtook Stud poker was the huge leap in status it gained through being used as the world championship game since the early 70's. It was Benny Binion, who hosted the first ever World Series of Poker, allowing entry only to the best players in the world. Benny chose Hold'em as the world championship game. Costs were $10,000 to buy in and there were no betting limits. The happening was a huge success and continues to be televised today. With this Benny is considered responsible for the merging of gambling with entertainment. The huge success of Hold'em's shows that Benny made an excellent choice by making Hold'em the world championship game. It is therefore expected that Hold'em will stay being the most popular poker game for a very long time...

Nevertheless it is interesting to speculate how different things might have been today if No-Limit Seven Card Stud poker had been invented in 1960, instead of 1998... No-limit Hold'em was unknown to the vast majority (probably over 95%) of spectators and players in the early 1970's, whereas Seven card stud was by far the most popular game. At that time, Seven card stud was considered by the majority of players to be the best poker game...


The future
Nowadays the poker game has been dominated by games based on seven live cards. It has been like this for most of the century now and there is no reason to expect that this will change. Poker is carefully regulated by gambling laws and it is played more than any other card game in the world. It has grown into a sporting event, with competitions and tournaments all around the world. Regardless of level, the variety and challenge of the game and all its forms, poker will continue to have a wide appeal to players, whether as a prospect of winning money or just for fun.

Poker will only become bigger and bigger and bigger...