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There are
many variations on where exactly Poker
started. With so many varying stories,
there seems to be no clear or direct early
ancestor of the game. Most likely, Poker
evolved to its present day form from
elements of many different games. Many think that because of it's basic
principal, it has been around a very long
time.
In 1834, Jonathan H. Green makes
one of the earliest written references to
Poker. In his writing, Green mentions rules
to what he called the "cheating game," which
was then being played on Mississippi
riverboats. He soon realized that his was
the first such reference to the game, and
since it was not referred to in the current
American Hoyle, he decided to name the
game Poker.
The game
he explained was played with 20 cards, using
only the aces, kings, queens, jacks and
tens. Two to four people could play, and
each was dealt five cards. By the time Green
wrote about it, poker had become the number
one cheating game on the Mississippi boats,
surpassing the ever popular game of Three-Card Monte. Most
of the people that enjoyed playing Three-Card Monte thought the
20-card poker seemed to be a more legitimate game,
and they played it more and more.
The origin of the word
Poker is also a topic of conflict. Most dictionaries and game historians say that it
comes from an eighteenth-century French
game, poque. However, there are other
references to pochspiel, which is a German
game. In pochspiel, there is an element of
bluffing, where players would indicate
whether they wanted to pass or open by
knocking on the table and saying, "Ich Poche!"
Some say it may even have derived come the
Hindu word, pukka.
Another
though is that the term "poke" probably came from
"hocus-pocus", a phrase widely used by
magicians. The game of Poker later evolved
to include 32 cards, and eventually the
modern day deck of 52 cards.
The game
of Poker has changed throughout the years,
it has literally gone from a backroom game
to the present day casinos around the world.
The history of Poker is synonymous with
famous places and famous people. For example,
during the Wild West period of United States
history, a saloon with a Poker table could
be found in just about every town from coast
to coast.
Presently, Poker is
a carefully
regulated game governed by many laws, and saloons have
given way to casinos and card rooms, but
Poker is played more than any other card
game in the world. It has grown into a
sporting event, with competitions and
tournaments all around the world.
Tournaments take place almost every week of
the year somewhere in the world.
Today, Poker
is thriving and it will continue to thrive.
There will always be a game to play and
money to be won.
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