Poker History

The history of poker is uncertain and widely debated. Some believe that it evolved in China before 969 AD from a game called ‘domino cards’ played by Emperor Mutsung. Others believe that Egyptians in the 12th Century were the first to use playing cards and there is a lot of support that a Persian game called ‘As Nas’ was the first to use cards, rounds of betting and hand rankings. The name ‘poker’ is believed to derive either from the 17th Century French card game ‘Poque’ or the 18th Century German game ‘Pochen’.

Although the origins are still shrouded in mystery, there is little doubt that the version of game we now know and love, with a 52 card deck of four suits, developed around the 1850s in America, first on the Mississippi River Boats and then in the Old West. Poker was considered by most to be a seedy pastime, played by drunks and low lives, and it was often closely associated with and surrounded by crime.

Then in 1970 Texas Road Gamblers like Doyle Brunson, Amarilo Slim, Johnny Moss and Puggy Pearson first brought poker into the mainstream with the first World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. It was a slow process and poker was still a sleazy back room game for most, but around the turn of the Millennium three major landmarks were about to take place which would turn poker into the fashionable pastime it is today. In 1999 the revolutionary show Late Night Poker showcased the now familiar ‘under the table hole card camera’ which allowed us to see what the players were thinking and turned poker into a spectator sport. In 2001 the first online poker website was launched and in 2003 amateur Chris Moneymaker won a $33 online satellite to the World Series of Poker and went on to win the main event for $2.5 million.

All of which created what is now known as the ‘Poker Boom’ that has turned poker from a seedy back room game to the billion dollar, fashionable industry it is today. Poker is now commonly accepted and popular in mainstream society and heartily endorsed by everyone from students to housewives, scientists to sportsmen, celebrities and even President Barack Obama.

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