Here I will briefly discuss the origins and history of the world’s
most popular card game, Poker. We’ll take a look at who invented it,
where it was played, and how it became so popular.
Card games have been played very early on going back centuries. Thus,
in China in the 13th Century they were already playing cards. In the
12th and 13th Century the Egyptians were known to have created playing
cards. The first known card game ‘Ganjifa’ originating from Egypt in the
16th Century, consisted of 96 beautifully detailed cards made of wood
or ivory.
Although the origin of this game is unclear, one widely assumes that
it has evolved from the Persian marked card game As Nas, which has affinity
with today’s poker. For the first time there were differences in the
card values and combinations. This game from Persia originated in the
16th Century and consisted of 25 cards of 5 colors, which is somewhat
similar to today’s 5 Card Stud Poker. There have also been similar
rankings and values.
In the 14th Century, these card games came to Europe and were further
developed. In Spain, they developed the card game Primero, which can be
regarded as a direct ancestor of today’s poker. In Germany it was a
poker variant, which goes by the name Poch, France Poque. Poch, Poque
and English to poke derived from the German word, rap, which is further
developed in the course of time in the poker world.
French settlers that moved to America in the 19th Century invented
the present form of poker. It was then played with four players, with a
deck of 20 cards. In the following decades, the game spread around the
country. In the time of the Civil War 1861-1865 it was played with a
traditional deck of 52 cards. During this time a combination of cards
were added to make the straight and flush poker hand rankings, and it
developed into other forms of poker like Five Card Stud and Five Card
Draw.
During the Early 20th Century, a new form of poker contact lens was invented going
by the name Wild Widow. This form of poker is the first form of today’s
Texas Hold’em. For the first time community cards had been used, but
back then it was still a single community card. Only in subsequent years
saw the development of today’s Texas Hold’em.
Until the early 70s, poker was a game of chance. Regular WSOP
tournaments were held, and the image of this game was transformed from
simply being “a good amusement/entertainment” to a very strategic game,
involving a great deal of skill, and the first poker pros were born who
were playing this game for a living. The technical capabilities of the
Internet revolutionized the game of poker and online poker experienced
the biggest boom in its history after Moneymaker won the 2003 WSOP Main
Event. The number of poker players, both in online and offline games,
has never been so high, and the numbers of players online are still understood steeply rising.
