Poker: A Game From The 18th Century

Sun, Jan 25, 2009

General

Poker is a popular card game that has been played for many years. Many people consider poker as a game of luck, where two or more people play the game with five cards each. Back in the eighteenth century, the French played this game but called it “poque”, which was somewhat similar to poker. Some people even say that the name of the game was derived from a Hindi word “pukka”.

Origin of Poker

After the 18th century’s “poque”, the popularity of poker started spreading. Several casinos were built, especially in United States, where people used to play poker tournaments and played this game with established rules. The World Series of poker was initiated, which saw tournament champions performing like Bobby Baldwin, Puggy Pearson and Johnny Moss to name a few. After some of these tournaments, many poker based books were released and community card poker games were also established.

The Actual Game

Poker originally was played by thieves who used to play the game to make huge money. Muggers played this game and used a slang word for it - ‘Poke’. Poke was a simple game that did not require any skill; the player was only required to know the technique for cheating and making money. However, today poker is considered as one of the most sophisticated games that is played according to a standard set of rules.

Poker in the 21st Century

After the community card poker rooms were opened in California, poker became extremely popular. These days poker has become one of the most appreciated and popularly played games which requires skill and luck. One needs to follow a strategy and basic rules to play the game and win. Most people say that the best way to play poker is to change the variations from deal to deal. Online poker is also favoured these days, as one can play the game from anywhere.

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