From Humble Beginnings – A Brief History of Poker
By Jerry Whittaker
When something is still going strong after a hundred years we tend to think “this good stuff”. Then I guess Poker must be exceptionally good stuff because many historians believe that this evergreen casino favourite has over 1000 years under its belt.
Poker gambling as we know it today is thought to have had its origins in China around 970 AD where a ranked card, bluffing game is reported to have been played by no less than the Emperor himself.
This form of wagering based on a hierarchical card ranking system is known to have been popular as Ganjifa in Egypt and As Nas in Persia as early as the 12th and 13th centuries with wafer thin ivory or hardwood slices used as cards. These “decks” consisted of as many as 96 very elaborately decorated cards in the case of Ganjifa and as few as 25 in As Nas games.
The originator of the poker game as it is played today is believed to have been a Spanish card game named Primero which was popular in the early 1500s. Primero shared many of the characteristics of some modern poker games and saw 3 card hands dealt to players who then bet on similar hand rankings.
Just as is the case today, artful, cool headed deception played an integral role in Primero and is probably why the game has become known as “The Mother of Poker”. Primero was the inspiration for the French game of Poque and a German variety named Pochen. It was the French game that was brought to the United States by the French-Canadian settlers who founded New Orleans.
One of the earliest recorded references to Poker was made by one Jonathan H. Green who mentioned the “Cheating Game” in his 1834 volume “An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling”. The good Mr. Green was captivated by the game and decided to give it a formal title and so Poker was born.
At the time the cardsharps poison of choice was the notoriously crooked 3 Card Monte. Poker was perceived to be more controlled and fair and its popularity grew in leaps and bounds. During the pioneering days of the American West, no self respecting saloon or boarding establishment was without a poker table or two.
It was around the late 1800s that the first recorded use of a joker ended the Poque legacy and the game as remained largely unchanged to this day. Many variations of this hugely popular game have evolved over the last two hundred years and poker is likely to be a casino favourite for at least as long again.
So whether you are playing Texas Hold ‘em, 3 Card Stud or Draw Poker, spare a thought for those intrepid, hardy gamblers that have carried our favourite game to us through the ages!
