The history of Poker is a long one, spanning a millennium through various different card games all based on the principle of ranked cards and the use of ‘bluffing’ to defeat opponents.

It is a widely held belief that a game very similar to poker was invented by the Chinese around 969 AD, when Emperor Mu-Tsung played ‘domino cards’ with his wife on New Years Eve.

The Egyptians are known to have played a type of card game in the 12th and 13th centuries. In the 16th century in Persia ‘Ganjifa’ cards were used for a range of betting games.

‘Ganjifa’ decks consist of 96 elaborately decorated cards, often made from ivory or wood. The Persians are known to have played ‘As Nas’, a game which used 25 cards, with rounds of bet placing just like poker.

Another similar game from the 16th century is ‘Primero’ which was played in Spain and involves three cards being dealt to each player. This evolved into two very popular French and German games, ‘Poque’ and ‘Pochen’ respectively. Bluffing, i.e betting high stakes to deceive opponents into thinking a hand is better than it is, was integral to most of these games.

The Spanish ‘Primero’ dates all the way back to 1526 and is often cited as the game which gave birth to poker as we know it. It is thought that French colonials took the game across the world when they arrived in Canada. They would have been playing Poque which was the national card game of France. During the eighteenth century, thanks to a group of French-Canadian settlers moving to New Orleans, the game was spread out throughout the entire country.

1834 is one of the earliest written references to poker, when Jonathan H. Green mentions the rules to the “cheating game” being played on the Mississippi riverboats. The game grew in popularity, as people abandoned the easy-to-rig 3 card games. It was Green who termed it the ‘Cheating Game’ in his book ‘An Exposure of the Arts and miseries of Gambling’.

During the Wild West period of America’s history, bars with poker tables could be found all over the country. It was very popular during the Civil War, and in 1875 the European joker was introduced as a wild card.

Over the years, poker has taken on numerous different forms, and people continue to play different Cialis Jelly versions of the same game today. It has never been as popular as it is right now, and with a wealth of information available online, as well as the opportunity to play online, there is no time like now to become a poker champ.

Author Bio: John Mce writes on a number of subjects including online poker, sports betting and poker.

Category: Recreation and Leisure/Gambling/Casino
Keywords: poker, play poker, sports betting, online casino