Poker HistoryIntroduction
Welcome to the fascinating world of poker. Poker is a worldwide card game, loved by millions around the world (perhaps, you included!). Poker has a fascinating history, full of famous places and characters. During the Wild West period poker tables were so common that they could be found in practically every town. To this day, poker is considered America's most popular card game, and is played both informally at home, with friends and family, as well as in the different casinos and online.
Where Did it all Begin?
Where exactly the game of poker was conceived and who gave it its name is highly debatable. Poker has no real early reference, though many claim that the nature of its basic principals makes it probable that it has very long roots. Some say that poker was compiled by adapting elements from many different games.
It seems that Jonathon H. Green published the first written document that mentions the game of poker in 1834. Green writes about a certain "cheating game" which is played on the Mississippi riverboats. He then claimed to be the first to have published the rules of this game, and since it wasn't mentioned in those days' American Hoyle he decided to call it: poker. The poker game, which Green described, was played with two to four players, each receiving five cards. That game was not played with a full deck of cards but rather with twenty cards only, consisting of Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks and tens.
In 1845 a description of the twenty-cards game of "poker" or "bluff" was added to the American edition of Hoyle. Other old game books might refer to the game by calling it "poker (bluff)", however the double name is outdated and the game is simply called poker. (Perhaps some confusion was made with the English game of Brag, thus calling this card game bluff.)
Some say that poker's roots may actually be planted in Persia, and that the poker game is based on an old Persian game called s-Nâs. In this game twenty cards were dealt to four players, each player receiving five cards. In s-Nâs as in poker ,combinations of pairs and other card sequences make the win. Interestingly enough, the element of bluffing was important in s-Nâs too. It is possible that the word "Ace" actually derives its name from the game of s-Nâs.
Some elements of poker can be found in the French card game of Bouilotte. This game is played with three cards for a hand - as a oppose to five card poker - and it includes the elements of blind, freeze-out, raise, straddles and table stakes. The element of draw is found in another French game, Ambigu, which is also played with three cards per hand. Both these games are actually variations of a game called Brelan, which was complied during the reign of Charles IX (1560-1574 ). In le Poker Américain, as the French call it, brelancarré means four of a kind. Early French publications of poker game rules mention a 32-card "Piquet" pack which is used for the game. These rules also call certain hand combinations by French names.
Brelan has roots in the French game of Gilet and the Italian game of Primero. Perhaps these two games originated from s-Nâs? It is hard to say.
The origins of the word "Poker"
There are different theories that try to answer this question, and we'll try to lay them out in front of you. Which one is true? God knows, we don't.
Most dictionaries as well as game historians claim that the term "poker" comes from the word poque. Poque was a game played in France around the eighteenth-century (which was a hectic century in France- good thing they found the time to play!). Another claim points to Germany where a bluffing game by the name of pochspiel was played. In pochspiel a player would indicate whether he wants to pass or open by rapping on the table game and calling out, "Ich Poche!" Others claim that poker's origins are not to be found in Europe but rather in India, and that this word comes from the Hindu word, pukka.
The possibilities don't end here. The term poker might have been adopted from the underworld vocabulary, which named a pocketbook or a wallet "poke". Card sharps would play this cheating game and would win their fellow player's "pokes". Perhaps by adding the letter r and compiling the word "poker", they tried to hide their intentions from others who might have been familiar with underworld slang.
A more ancient source for the word poker might be the famous magician chant hocus-pocus. Where as a magician says these words and makes a dove disappear, a pickpocket (hence the term poke) makes money disappear from pockets... It might come in shock to some magic lovers, that in the middle ages more then a few magicians cooperated with pickpockets, each making things disappear in a magic show. Paintings of the time show clearly the work of pickpockets - than called cutpurses - during magicians performances.
So you can see, that finding out the correct origin of poker is a hard task. One thing is sure: when you say the word "poker" today, there are very few people who don't know what you're referring to.
Online Poker