The Long Road Poker Walks Down Before Becoming a US Favorite Game

Poker is one of the much beloved games of players and there are various stories where and when it originated.

As per one of the popular versions, R.F. Foster wrote in 1937: “The game of poker, as first played in the United States, five cards to each player from a twenty-card pack, is undoubtedly the Persian game of As Nas.”

This statement was challenged by the end of 20th century, and another theory was offered – poker was compared to the French game “poque”, which was said to have been popular in the same area, as the place of origin of poker itself.

Other versions claim that poker shares some similarities with other games like “primero”, “brelan” and “brag”, adding more to the rich history of poker.

Additions to the game

Some contemporary researchers completely denied all these potential games as the founding grounds of the poker game, as they are concentrated only on the card play. They claimed that what is actually special about poker is the betting element, therefore they considered the game to have originated in the 18th century, becoming popular in the region around the Mississippi river.

Poker is one of gamblers’ most favorite games

• There are different versions about the game’s origin

• Poker became even more popular in the 70s when the World Series of Poker began

• Online poker made numerous players rich and famous

Another story refers to Joseph Crowell, English actor, who said that the game was played in New Orleans around 1829. A 20-cards deck was used by four players, who were betting on which player’s hand was the most valuable one.

Jonathan Green, American writer and passionate gambler, wrote in 1843 about the spread of poker along the area of the Mississippi river, and by the time of the Gold Rush, it was already part of everyday life of Americans.

After the full 52-card English deck became popular, the flush was introduced, preceded by the draw. Between 1861 and 1865, during the American Civil War, numerous extras were brought and some of the most famous ones were the straight and the stud poker.

Tournaments effect

After the 1970s the game became even more popular and when the World Series of Poker began and the tournament form became fashionable.

Some champions from these WSOP, who made it into the gambling news, were Johnny Moss, Bobby Baldwin, Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim and many more.

Soon after, some of the first poker strategy books were written. Some examples came from Mike Caro – “Caro’s Book of Poker Tells” and Doyle Brunson’s “Super/System”.

In the 1980s, poker has already reached to millions of people and it started to appear in the media – different magazines, TV shows, etc. were showing parts of poker games raising the interest towards the game even more.

The 1990s was the time when poker spread completely all over the US and it became one of the most favorite games in Atlantic City casinos.

In 1998 an extremely important poker event happened – Planet Poker offered the first online poker game for real money, according to US gambling laws.

Online poker era

Poker reached its peak for the time being in the last couple of years, all thanks to the introduction of online poker sites. The games began to be broadcasted and fans could watch everything from home and also participate in them.

Poker became even more profitable business, as more and more poker tournaments made it into TV broadcasting and new poker stars started to appear on the arena.

Online poker satellite tournaments became a real hit in 2003-2004 and more and more champions made it into the main events of major tournaments by winning various online competitions.

Poker is still a great hit and money maker, attracting millions of people around the world, who are willing to try their skills and win their place in the hall of fame.