Poker game history

The game of poker is currently one of the most popular games in the world. TV shows like “World Poker Tour” and “High Stakes Poker” had a huge impact on the masses boosting the number of players both online and offline. At this point poker passes through the best period in his entire history.

In the absence of obvious evidences, the beginnings of poker game are unclear and causes heated arguments among specialists. The first game similar to poker ever recorded dates back from the 15th century and is a German game named “Pochspiel”.

Another game that challenges the German game for the title of poker’s ancestor is "As nas”, a Persian game with similar rules. Unfortunately the first recordings of the ancient Persian game similar to poker date from the late 19th century so we cannot know for sure which game deserves better the title of poker ancestor. Other theories link poker with several French and English games that resemble this unique game.

The first written evidences about poker states that poker was played in Mississippi and the spread all around the Mississippi river. During the Old West (Wild West) the gambling was legal and saloon poker was the main entertainment attraction. Unfortunately these times were marked by violence and many games of poker ended tragically.

In the late 19th century and early 20th century the gambling was illegal and poker lost a big part of its popularity. At the mid 20th century the first casinos were opened in Las Vegas and the game of poker was legal again. Legendary players like Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim and Bobby Baldwin made history by playing poker at the highest level. The gambling industry started to grow and in the last years of 20th century the game of poker entered on the internet.

Since the first online game was played, the number of both online poker sites and players grew at a dizzying speed, making poker the world’s most popular online game.