History of Poker - Surmise of how it could have happened
It's believed that original Poker, a game in which four players received five cards each from a 20-card deck originated in New Orleans some time between 1810 and 1825. Its gaming milieu was that of French-speaking maritime gambling saloons, especially those of the Mississippi steamers. Jonathan H. Green's book, "An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling" (G. B. Zieber, Philadelphia, 1843), described the spread of the game from there to the rest of the country by Mississippi riverboats, on which gambling was a common pastime. The name Poker has got similarities with a playing game called "Poque" in which one said "Je poque" to open the betting. At this time "Poque" probably denoted a five-card vying game consisting of the central section of a formerly tripartite game of the same name. "Poque" could be played with a 32 or 36 card deck by up to six players. Its ultimate ancestor must have been the substantially similar German game of Poch (Pochen, Pochspiel), which can be traced back to the 15th century.
In the 1830s, having spread northwards along the Mississippi and westwards with the expanding frontier, Poker had adopted its anglicized name and become increasingly played with 52 cards to accommodate a greater number of players, thus also giving rise to the flush as an additionally recognized combination. Under the influence of Brag, its three-card British equivalent, it adopted the draw. This led to its further and more rapid expansion of popularity, as Poker-players preferred the additional round of betting after the possibility of improving a promising hand, while Brag-players preferred the wider range of combinations offered by a five-card hand. Draw Poker, first recorded around 1850, marks the coming of age of what Allen Dowling rightly calls "The great American pastime".
Soon after this spread, the full 52-card English deck was used and the flush was introduced. The draw was first mentioned in print in a handbook of games in 1850, but it can be assumed that it was added before that time. During the American Civil War, many additions were made including stud poker (the five-card variant), and the straight. Further American adaptations followed, such as the wild card (around 1875), lowball and split-pot poker (around 1900), and community card poker games (around 1925). The spread of poker to other countries, particularly Asia, is often attributed to the U.S. military.The game and jargon of poker have become important parts of English and American culture. Phrases and cliches, such as ace in the hole, to have an ace up one's sleeve, beats me, blue chip, call one's bluff, cash in, high roller, pass the buck, poker face, stack up, up the ante, when the chips are down, wild card, and others are used in everyday conversation, even by those not familiar with poker term, rules and expressions.
Television and the rise of online Poker games
Poker's popularity experienced an unprecedented peak at the beginning of the 21st century, largely due to the introduction of online poker and the invention of the hole-card camera. In poker, a hole cam (or pocket cam) is a camera that displays a player's face-down cards to television viewers, which turned the game into a spectator sport. People could now follow the action and drama of the game. Broadcasts of poker tournaments, such as the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour brought in huge audiences for cable and satellite TV distributors. Because of the increasing coverage of poker events, poker pros became more like celebrities, with poker fans all over the world entering into expensive tournaments for the chance to play with them.
Major poker tournament fields have grown dramatically because of the growing popularity of online satellite-qualifier tournaments where the prize is an entry into a major tournament. The 2003 and 2004 WSOP champions, Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, respectively, won their seats to the main event by winning online satellites.Claim your free bonus with the opportunity to win real money with any of the following casinos
Some of the information on this site can also be found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poker.
