The origin of poker is the subject of a lot of debate. One of the first known games to include bluffing, betting and hand rankings was the 15th century game of Pochspiel, from Germany. Poker also is similar to the Persian game called As Nas. In more recent years evidence has come to light that a French game called poque was the true origin of the modern day game. However, it is more likely to have come from the Irish Poca game, although the historians are still debating it.
There is a current school of thought which says these origins are wrong too. Their focus is on the card play, which these historians consider trivial and which could have come from any number of games. These scholars believe the unique aspect of poker is betting and this does not appear in any of the older games. In their opinion poker as we know it today originated in the early 1800′s.
It was reported by the British actor Joseph Crowell that they were playing the game in New Orleans in 1829 with a deck of 20 cards. There were four players and they were betting on which player’s hand was the best. The game was reported to have been spread along the Mississippi and to the rest of the country by the riverboats.
There were different winning hands introduced, such as the flush, and the draw was introduced prior to 1850. It was during the American Civil War that more additions were made, including the game of stud poker and the straight. The game and jargon of poker have now become an important part of our culture. We use many of the phrases common to poker in our every day conversations.
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