History of Poker Games

History

History of Poker Games and the Online Poker Revolution

The history of poker is a matter of debate. Poker is clearly one of the earliest known games to associate with betting, hand rankings, and bluffing. Poker closely reminds the Persian game of As Nas, though there is no specific description of nas prior to 1890. In the 1937 edition of Foster’s Complete Hoyle, R. F. Foster wrote: “the game of poker, as first played in the United States, five cards to each player from a twenty-card pack, is undoubtedly the Persian game of as nas.

By the year 1990s some gaming historians including David Parlett started to challenge the notion that poker is a direct derivative of As Nas. There is direct evidence that a game called poque, which is a French game similar to poker, was played around the region where poker is said to have originated. The name of the game likely descended from the Irish Poca (Pron. Pokah) (‘Pocket’) or even the French poque, which descended from the German pochen (‘to brag as a bluff’ lit. ‘to knock’). But still it is not clear whether the origins of poker as a game itself lie with the games bearing those names.

It is commonly regarded as sharing ancestry with the Renaissance game of primero and the French brelan. The English game brag (earlier bragg) clearly descended from brelan and incorporated bluffing (though the concept was known in other games by that time). It is quite possible that all of these earlier games influenced the development of poker as it exists now.

With its popularity booming in the beginning of 1970 when a series of developments lead to poker becoming far more popular than it was previously:

Modern tournament play became popular in American casinos after the World Series of Poker kicked off, in 1970. Notable champions from these early tournaments include names like Johnny Moss, Amarillo Slim, Bobby Baldwin, Doyle Brunson, and Puggy Pearson.

Later in the 1970s, the first serious strategy press made its appearance, notably Super/System by Doyle Brunson and Caro’s Book of Poker Tells by Mike Caro. In the 1990s, poker and casino gambling became popular across the United States, most notably to Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 1998, the poker oriented film Rounders starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton was released making itself a contribution to the popularity of the game.

In 1999, Late Night Poker debuted on British television, introducing poker for the first time to Europeans. Poker’s popularity experienced an unpredicted boom at the beginning of the 21st century, due to the introduction of poker online. As more and more international poker tournaments enjoyed coverage people joined poker rooms to qualify for satellites in a chance of becoming a celebrity posing on a table with stacks of $100 notes.

The major boom came in 2003 and 2004 World Series Of Poker champions, when Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, respectively, won their seats to the main event by winning satellites from online poker rooms. That was in reality the beginning of the madness that we live today. After the UIGEA in October of 2006, US Poker rooms have decreased and attendance at live tournaments as well as participation in live and online cash games has slowed from American players, however they are still far more popular today than they were prior to 2003.