Poker is a huge part of any casino. It’s the number one game people think about when they picture gambling and it has had a storied history. Of course, saying Poker is a game is bit of a misnomer because Poker is actually an umbrella term that covers many different card games that all have the same basic elements.

1. The Evolution of Poker
Poker is a huge part of any casino. It’s the number one game people think about when they
picture gambling and it has had a storied history. Of course, saying Poker is a game is bit of
a misnomer because Poker is actually an umbrella term that covers many different card
games that all have the same basic elements.
Here, we explore the evolution of poker.
Pre-Poker
Modern Poker can trace its roots back centuries and has ancestors all over the world. In
ancient China, people used to play games of chance with domino cards that had the same
basic premise of Poker, meaning people won based on the rank of certain card or domino
combinations and the ability to bluff opponents.
Egyptians in the 12th and 13th centuries enjoyed playing games of chance with decks of
cards. Sixteenth century Persians invented a 96-card playing deck they used to play several
different betting games. The ancient Persians also played the popular As Nas, which used
25 cards and, like Poker, had rounds of betting and hierarchical hand rankings to
determine the winner.
A Spanish game called Primero, which dates back to 1526, that involved betting and
bluffing much like Poker, also became quite popular. Primero is sometimes referred to as
the grandparent of modern poker because it is the earliest direct ancestor of Poker.
Germans developed a game called Pochen based on Primero and the French had their own
game based on Primero called Poque. Both of these games gained popularity throughout
the 17th and 18th centuries.
It is the French game that is the most direct ancestor of modern poker. French colonials
brought Poque, the national card game of France, to the New World with them where it got
established in places like New Orleans. From there, it traveled up the Mississippi on the
famous riverboats, evolving along the way and spreading throughout the United States as
Poker.
Poker Spreads
Jonathan H. Green made one of the earliest written references to Poker in 1834 when he
wrote about what he called the "cheating game." However, despite this moniker, Poker
continued to spread, usurping 3 Card Monte on the gambling circuit. Ironically, people
preferred Poker because it was a more honest game than 3 Card Monte, which was often
rigged. Poker was also seen as more of a challenging game by players who liked the
strategizing it involved. Green got behind this new game and gave it a push of publicity in
his book 'An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling,' officially dubbing the new
game Poker.

2. With little for entertainment in the vast swaths of frontierland, soldiers, cowboys and men
and women of all persuasions enjoyed the game to pass the time and entertain themselves.
Soldiers on both sides of the Civil War played poker while on the battlefield and in the post-
war years saloons popped up in pretty much every frontier town to accommodate people’s
love for the new game.
As it evolved, new elements were continually introduced like using the full 52-card French
deck and the introduction of the flush as one of the hands that could win. The draw element
of replacing cards to form a better hand was added prior to 1850, where it is referenced in
a handbook of games.
During the aforementioned American Civil War, stud poker was introduced along with the
concept of the straight as a winning hand. Further developments followed like the
introduction of the wild card around 1875 and the concept of lowball and split-pot Poker
around 1900. Community card poker games started popping up around the mid-1920s.
The Modern Era
Different variations of Poker have risen to the top of the heap to become the most popular
for certain stretches of time. For example, 5 Card Draw became the most popular form of
Poker for almost a century, rising up from the battlefields of the Civil War and remaining
the most popular form of Poker into the 20th century, with help from some questionable
laws.
The state of Nevada made it a felony to run a betting game, which put Poker in jeopardy,
but the attorney general of California decided that draw poker was a more skill-based game
and therefore it was not covered by anti-gambling laws, unlike stud poker, which was
deemed to be purely a chance game and therefore covered by anti-gambling laws.
Naturally, this decision caused draw poker to become the dominant form of Poker. Nevada
later reversed its decision in 1931 and legalized casino gambling, which obviously included
all forms of Poker.
Shortly before the Second World War, 7 Card Stud rose up and became the most popular
form of Poker for about four decades, helped along by the thriving casino industry in Las
Vegas. In the 1970s, Texas Hold'em began to replace 7 Card Stud as the most popular form
of Poker thanks to being used as the form played in the title game of the World Series of
Poker, which got its start in 1970.
Once Poker had its own league, that was followed by the publication of serious poker
strategy books in the late ‘70s. By the ‘80s and ‘90s, Poker was starting to frequently be
depicted as a common pastime in pop culture like movies and television shows. And at the
beginning of the 21st century, Poker saw an unprecedented spike in popularity thanks in
large part to both online poker and the push to turn Poker into a spectator sport by
strategically placing cameras on tables so the audience knew what cards everyone was
holding even though the players did not.

3. Poker is now watched by millions of people on television similar to how they would watch
football and its popularity has never been higher. It continues to be played in massive
tournaments and in the homes of millions of people.