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An estimated 100,000,000 people play poker around the world, making it by far the biggest card game on the planet. At BamBam Poker we’re proud to offer you so many ways to enjoy a game so steeped in history and with such a great future. But where did it all begin?
There are as many myths surrounding the origins of poker.
The Historical Dispute
The first written records of the game date back to around 1830. As gambling became increasingly popular in the United States of the early 1800s, so did a game closely resembling the poker we know today.
An early version with just 20 cards is first thought to have been played in New Orleans. However, as gambling fell out of favour in the South, gamblers and poker players were forced to take the game out of the saloons and onto the Mississippi riverboats, spreading it further across the frontier.
In the 19th century the American Civil War and the Gold Rush helped to spread the popularity of poker even further, as traveling speculators, pioneers and soldiers replaced the cheats, outlaws and hustlers associated with the early days of the game.
By 1900 poker was being played with a 52-card deck, and straights, flushes, wild cards and five-card stud had all been introduced.
What’s in a name?
OK, but poker didn’t just come out of nowhere, right? Well, no-one knows exactly where it did come from, but most experts agree that poker goes back a long way and has a very mixed ancestry.
Today’s game probably owes a great deal to the 16th century Persian game of as nas, which involved 25 cards, 5 suits and familiar hand rankings such as three-of-a-kind. One theory has it that Persian sailors taught the game to French settlers in New Orleans in the 1700s.
But the game could also have its roots in Europe itself. Most dictionaries will tell you that the word ‘poker’ comes from an 18th century French card game called poque. This game may in turn have its origins in a 500-year-old German game of betting and bluffing called Poch. All we do know is that nobody knows for certain!
Look to the future
Wherever it may have come from, the game we know and love is still very much evolving today. It’s now a worldwide industry thanks to televised tournaments and the advent of online poker rooms.
Developments like the hole card camera and online satellites have revolutionized the game, turning it into a unique spectator sport that now anyone in the world can get into.
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