The History of Poker

It is commonly agreed that the game of Poker is a direct ancestor of a game played in Western Europe in sixteen century. This game was known as Primero in England and as Primera in Spain. Despite the fact that Primero has many differences with modern poker, it was the first game in which hands of cards were wagered upon with different combinations worth various values. Such hands like a pair and 3-of-a-kind came to poker straight from this game. Note, the hands in Primero consisted of only three cards.

In the eighteenth century English players were playing a game called Brag. It had the same rules as Primero by it was played with five cards instead of three. The Germans played game Pochen and the French played Poque that were local equivalents of Brag. At this stage psychological tactics, strategic wagering and stage bluffing became a normal part of play.

Soon, Poque was brought to America by the French colonists. It was only a matter of timer before Poque would developed into a truly American game. The records show that in 1829 a 20-card game was played on riverboats. In 1843 a game that used 52 card deck was described by Jonathan H. Green in his book "An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling". In his book Green refers to this game as the "cheating game".

In the 1860's the 52-card deck and the flush as we know it today were introduced. During the American Civil War the game was evolving and became that poker we play today. Also, during this period the poker variants of draw poker and stud poker began to emerge.

At the beginning of the 20th century poker was more or less how we know it today. However, Poker became a really popular game in the late 1980's and 1990's thanks to multiple shows and online versions of poker.

Today, Poker is one of the most popular gambling games in the world. Millions of players see billions of poker hands every day and their community is growing rapidly. There are dozens of various online poker rooms but only few of them can be considered the best.