Poker Origins

The origin of the word Poker is still well debated. Some dictionaries and game historians say that it comes from an eighteenth-century French game – “poque”. There are also other references to “pochspiel”, a German game. In “pochspiel”, there is an element of bluffing, where players would indicate whether they wanted to pass or open by rapping on the table and saying, “Ich Poche!” Some say it may even come from the Hindu word pukka and even slang for pickpockets. By the way, this latest version of the word “poker” is worth being mentioned. One of the first who described the new extremely popular game was Jonathan Green during his trip to Mississippi in 1834. He often watched as the men fought with enthusiasm in the cards, and so one day decided to ask about the type of game being played. It was attended by 2-4 people and a deck of cards consisted of aces, kings, queens, jacks and a dozen (i.e. a total of 20 cards). Green dubbed this card fun a “game of cheats” because he saw how it was important to be cunning and bluff.

Anyway, in the nineteenth century French colonists who settled initially in Louisiana brought poker to America. The game has become of such incredible popularity that at one time it was considered the national card game. Since the mid-nineteenth century poker has been played with a deck of 52 cards and the rules have undergone significant changes.

The game of Poker has developed over the years, through many backroom games to the present day casinos around the world. The history of Poker is rich with famous names and places. For example, during the Wild West period in United States history, every saloon in just about every town from coast to coast had a Poker table.

During its history many variations of poker were born, such as 5 Card Draw, which were very popular in early poker history. Later it was replaced by popular Stud and Omaha, and finally in the 1970s came to prominence still the most popular variation, “Texas Holdem Poker”. The huge increase in recent poker interest was to be thanked first to the World Series of Poker and other live televised poker events.

About the Author

Jayne Powderham
Online Casino Player
Jayne is a longtime and regular online casino player. She has enjoyed the fast development of this sector over the last ten years and despite occasional bad experiences and battles with operators would pick online casinos over offline 9 times out of ten! Jayne loves nothing more than an excuse to play on online casinos and “share the love” for the good guys and “name and shame” the bad guys she encounters along the way in her casino review duties for Chips88.