Poker

Poker evolution

Poker is one of the most interesting and exciting games ever. The game has evolved from different types of card games over the centuries. Several scholars and players believe that poker might have been invented first by the Chinese around 969 AD or even before them. The domino cards that were very famous in China are thought to be the ancient ancestor of poker.

The Egyptians too were known to have played some type of playing cards. In India the elaborately decorated Ganjifa cards were used while several other types of traditional cards were used in Persia for playing a card game using 25 cards. The Persian game even had several betting rounds and ranks of hands from which it is believed that poker might have been developed.

In the 17th and the 18th centuries, the games of Pochen and Pogue became very famous in Germany and France. In turn, both of these games had been developed inspired by the 16th century game of Primero from Spain in which there were three cards given to every player. Even in this ancient game, several elements of modern day poker were present. Like poker, players used to bluff and place high bets on weak cards in order to fool their opponents. The Spanish game of Primero is known to be the game from which modern day poker had been invented.

When the French arrived in Canada, they brought along the addictive game with them. Their version of Primero, Pogue had been their favorite past time then and in the 18th century the game spread from Canada to New Orleans first. From New Orleans the game quickly spread to the areas along the Mississippi river and then to the rest of the places in the US.

The game had been one of the favorite cheating games on the famous riverboats on the Mississippi for quite some time. Poker was thought to be quite challenging in comparison to the rest of the card games like baccarat or blackjack and it immediately managed to hook on the gamblers. Poker was first mentioned by Jonathan Green in 1834 in his book on gambling.

Soon enough, poker was found in every old fashioned saloon throughout the United States and became a loved game among players. During the Civil War two the game gained much popularity when the soldiers used to play poker in their free time. The Joker had been introduced in poker in 1875 as the wild card due to the European influence.

In the two centuries since the time that poker had evolved, it has grown and developed in quite a large way. While it grew based on the elements borrowed from various different card games, poker developed and grew from the Mississippi banks and today it has gained much popularity.