In the Beginning - A Brief History of Poker

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." There is evidence that a game called poque, 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 ('Pocket') It is commonly regarded as sharing ancestry with the Renaissance game of primero and the French brelan. The English game brag 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.

Many believe poker originated much later, in the early or mid-18th century, and spread throughout the Mississippi River region by 1800. It was played in a variety of forms, with 52 cards, and included both straight poker and stud. 20 card poker was a variant for two players (it is a common English practice to reduce the deck in card games when there are fewer players). The development of poker is linked to the historical movement that also saw the invention of commercial gambling.

English actor Joseph Crowell reported that the game was played in New Orleans in 1829, with a deck of 20 cards, and four players betting on which player's hand was the most valuable. Jonathan H. Green's book, An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling (G. B. Zieber, Philadelphia, 1843), described the spread of the game from there to the rest of the country by Mississippi riverboats, on which gambling was a common pastime. As it spread north along the Mississippi River and to the West during the gold rush, it is thought to have become a part of the frontier pioneer ethos.

Soon after this spread, the full 52-card English deck was used and the flush was introduced. The draw was added prior to 1850 (when it was first mentioned in print in a handbook of games). During the American Civil War, many additions were made including stud poker (the five-card variant), and the straight. Further American developments followed, such as the wild card (around 1875), lowball and split-pot poker (around 1900), and community card poker games (around 1925).

The Short History of Caribbean Stud Poker

Caribbean Stud Poker is not a very old game. No one seems to know for certain who invented the game, but it showed up in the Caribbean in the ‘80s.

It was first played on Aruba and on cruise ships circling the Caribbean islands. The game was clearly invented with profit in mind, since it has a rather hefty house edge.

Still, the game quickly became popular, possibly thanks to the simple rules and the similarities with poker.

A COMBINATION OF POKER AND BLACKJACK

Other than sharing the five-card hand and same hand ranking as most poker games, the game itself is not really a true poker variation, but more of a blend of poker and casino blackjack.

You play against the dealer instead of other players, and there is no bluffing involved. The player acts first by placing an ante and can either raise or fold depending on the poker hand's strength.

MOVE TO LAS VEGAS

With the popularity of the game growing, it was soon adopted by the Las Vegas casinos.

Because of the large house advantage, it didn't sit well with the players at first. To attract more players to the game, some casinos added a progressive jackpot with an optional side bet.

This version was more widely accepted, and it's the most common form of Caribbean Stud poker played today – both in land-based and online casinos.

The Birth of the World Series of Poker

Though the World Series of Poker made its official debut in 1970, the idea of the

Horseshoe’s annual tournament was actually conceived more than two decades earlier.

And to further deepen your poker knowledge, read our articles on the Legality of Poker.

WIn the summer of 1949, as the story goes, inveterate gambler Nicholas ‘Nick the Greek’ Dandolos approached Benny Binion with an unusual request-to challenge the best in a high-stakes poker marathon. Binion agreed to set up a match between Dandolos and the legendary Johnny Moss, with the stipulation that the game be played in public view.

During the course of the marathon, which lasted five months with breaks only for sleep, the two men played every form of poker imaginable. Moss ultimately won ‘the biggest game in town’ and an estimated $2 million. When the Greek lost his last pot, he arose from his chair, bowed slightly, and uttered the now-famous words, ‘Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.’ Dandolos then went upstairs to bed.

Though significant in its own way as a chapter in poker history, the five-month marathon took on added importance to Benny Binion. He noted that the public had gathered outside the casino each day to watch the game with the fervor of dedicated sports fans, and he was amazed at the attention the event had attracted. But it wasn’t until 1970 that Binion decided to re-create this excitement and stage a battle of poker giants–dubbed the ‘World Series Of Poker‘–to determine who would be worthy of the title ‘World Champion.’ Some of the best players in the country were assembled, and Johnny Moss came out on top. The decision was democratic in that the champion was decided by popular vote.

The following year, the winner was determined by a freezeout competition, with players being systematically eliminated until one player had all the chips. Moss again was declared the World Champion. In 1972, when Thomas ‘Amarillo Slim’ Preston won the title and went on the talk-show circuit, the WSOP began to gain a wider following.

It was only a year later that Binion participated in the Oral History Project at the University of Nevada-Reno and discussed the World Series with interviewer Mary Ellen Glass. ‘This poker game here gets us a lot of attention,’ he told Glass. ‘We had seven players last year, and this year we had 13. I look to have better than 20 next year. It’s even liable to get up to be 50, might get up to be more than that.’ Binion then paused, and as if gazing into the future, prophesied, ‘It will eventually.’

In the early 1980′s, with the introduction of preliminary ‘satellite’ competitions with lower buy-ins, Binion’s prophesy came into fruition and the popularity of the World Series of Poker soared. But even Benny Binion, who passed away on Christmas Day of 1989, would have had difficulty foreseeing the enormous growth the Horseshoe’s annual tournament has experienced in the past decade or so.

In 1982, nine years after Mr. Binion participated in UNR’s Oral History Project, the tournament drew 52 entrants. Five years later, there were 2,141 participants, and the 2002 event attracted 7595 entries. The prize money has increased proportionately, from $7,769,000 a decade ago to a staggering $19,599,230 in 2002. Whereas only 12 events, mostly Texas hold’em and seven-card stud, were scheduled as recently as 1988, the 2003 tournament offers 35 competitions that feature a wide variety of games.

Today, the legacy Benny Binion left the poker community ranks as the oldest, largest, most prestigious, and most media-hyped gaming competition in the world, and no doubt it holds the promise of an even brighter future. But equally as important, The World Series of Poker has touched thousands of lives over the years, affording talented players the opportunity to follow their dreams, reach for the stars, and perhaps one day achieve greatness in their chosen endeavor.

Biggest Pot in Online Poker History . . . to date

A really interesting video that analyzes the $1.3 million dollar hand between Isildur1 and Patrik Antonius on Full Tilt Poker. It shows the two hands prior to the record breaker and then, of course, the biggest pot in online poker history. All hands are discussed and odds are given so you can get a peek at what each player must have been thinking when they got their chips in.

Another Version of "The Truth"

The history of Poker is sometimes vague, filled with colorful characters and outlandish stories.

Here another version of "the truth"....

The origin of Poker is not clear till date but going in accordance with the assumptions, the origin of this game dates back to around several thousand years. The present game play of poker has undergone many transitions and has gained mass popularity amongst masses all over the world thus breaking the barriers of regional boundaries. 

The game of Poker was once known as the game of pirates, thieves, and was assumed to be a game for people who lacked moral ethics. It was a common site to see poker being played in smoke filled rooms in street side clubs but the whole scenario has changed now and owing to several world poker championships it has now been given a status of a “skill game”.

In ancient time poker was played with real money, later on clay poker chips were used as monetary tokens eventually to be replaced by metallic and plastic chips. The traditional betting still remains the same with slight variations in the game play. There are various anticipations as to why the game is named Poker, some of them being:

- The name could be after pickpocket who used to play them extensively.
- Could have originated from the India game, Pukka featuring same rules.
- Could be derived from a French word Poque.

Irrespective of the origin of the game, Poker is played extensively around the world and has found an eminent place in casinos and owing to internet the game can be played online too. The present age poker is played with a deck of 52 cards.