Today, poker is the most popular card game. But how did it appear? Hardly anyone can name the exact date or place of birth of poker. I would say that poker was not born in the form we know it now and evolved from another game. Even calling a game that was a direct ancestor of poker is impossible. Different sources mention different games and dates. It all converge in one thing - poker is a symbiosis.
We will review some theories of poker and give the reader the right to choose their favorite version.
version I
. Poker is an ancestor of the Persian game of As Nas. The deck consisted of 25 cards and had 5 suits. The game was played among 5 people. The poker came to Europe because of the trade with Persia in the 18th century. Europe liked this new game, and as a result several card games very similar to modern poker appeared. it was - Breg in England, Pohen in Germany and Pok in France. All these games were for money and a player with the highest combination won. The next stage was America Poker. French took the game back when America was colonized.
In the 20th century, poker becomes a national game in America. Also in the early 20th century, the most common form of poker Texas Hold'em appears.
Version II
. The ancestors of poker were "primero" and "la prime" in Spain and France of the 16th century. Each player had 3 cards. In these games, as in poker, the player with the highest combination won. Some combinations were exactly the same as in the modern version, such as straight and flash. Further, as in the first version, such games as Breg, pohen and dormancy appeared. Then, the French poker was brought to America. In 1870, poker returned to Europe when Colonel Jacob Schenck, the U.S. ambassador to the UK, introduced the game of poker at the court of Queen Victoria. The Queen was very interested in this game, and the Colonel told her the detailed rules.
And still not then poker has become famous in Europe. Jacob Schenk or the American soldiers during the First World War did it.
Version III. Poker was the first ancestor of the Chinese dominoes.
version IV
. There is also the American theory of the origin of poker. Cartographer Jonathan Green, traveling across North America, often watched the sailor's playing cards. The game was played among 2-4 people, and a deck of cards consisted of aces, kings, queens, jacks and tens. Green said that the sailors bluffed and deceived each other and called it a "game of cheaters." The sailors told him that before such tricks, distracting the victim of this card game was popular, but this time pulled it's purse. By the way, in this cheating slang �poke� means purse.
So, here are the versions of poker development.
But there are some solid facts.
In the 20th century the first poker club was created, currently it has dozens of variations, including Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Stud, Draw Poker. The most common game is, of course, Texas Hold'em. It appeared in Robstown, Texas. Further, this version of poker migrated to Dallas, later - in Las Vegas.
Texas Hold'em is the official game of the world competitions.
In 1968, Tom Moore (the owner of Holiday Casino in Reno, a city in the U.S. state of Nevada) held the first big poker competition called The Texas Gamblers Reunion. Two years later, in 1970, the first official event, called the World Series Of Poker (WSOP) was held. Now, the WSOP is held every year on this date.
