The history of poker cannot be precisely traced back. It is believed to have evolved form different games. The game has different origins related to it.

POKER ORIGIN

The most popular belief is that the game has evolved from the Chinese game of Domino cards. Emperor Mu-Tsang and his wife have been reported to have played Domino cards around 969 A.D.

Some say that the game has evolved from the Persian game of ‘As Nas’. The game was played with a deck of 25 cards with 5 suits. The game is played with 5 players. Indians have been reported to have played another form of poker which was called ‘Ganjifa’. It was played with a deck of 96 detailed cards and has been found to have made of paper thin slices of ivory or precious wood.

The French theory holds that the game was evolved from the French card game of ‘Poque’. The game was popular among the French in New Orleans in the 1480’s. The game in poker consisted of bluffing and betting. Poque is the first card game which was played with four suits viz. spades, diamonds, clubs and hearts.

Poker is also said to have a German origin from the famous German game of   ‘Pochen’. Both ‘Pochen’ and ‘Poque’ is said to have developed from the Spanish game is ‘Primero’. Primero has a history dating back to 1526 and is sometimes referred to as ‘poker’s mother’. Primero is the earliest known ancestor of the modern day poker. Another game which has evolved from the Italian Primero is the American three card game of brag. The game of Brag also integrated bluffing and thus is believed to have its role in the evolution of Poker.

EARLIEST WRITTEN REFERENCE TO POKER

The earliest reference to Poker in literature was made by Jonathan H Green in 1834. He in his book, ‘Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling’ describes the game which he called ‘cheating game’. He mentions the rules of the game in his writing. Green has reported the game to have been played on Mississippi river boats. When Green realized that he had made the first ever mentioning of the game, he choose to call the game Poker.

Joseph Crowel has written about the game of Poker in his book ‘Thirty Years Passed Among the Players in England and America’. He describes the game played in 1929. Joseph Crowel was an English Comedian.

According to Green’s and Crowell’s writing the game has been described to have been played with a deck of 20 cards consisting of only aces, kings, queens, jacks and tens. The game was played by two to four players and each was dealt five cards each. The winning combinations in the game was one pair, two pairs, triplets, full combination (all five cards active) and the four of a kind combination. In this game, a hand of four Aces, or four kings and Aces was unbeatable.

ORIGIN OF THE WORD POKER

The origin of the name of poker has also been well debated. Like the disputes over the origin of the game, some say that the name has been acquired form the French game of Poque, some believe it to have derived from the German game of Pochspiel. Some hold that the name has been evolved fro the Hindu word of Pukka (Indian origin).

Another astonishing debate over the name origin is that it has been derived from the underworld slang word of “poke”. “Poke” is a term used by pickpockets. The assumption was that the term ‘poke’ would have been used by cardsharps and the addition of an ‘r’ would have made it ‘poker’. There are also beliefs that the name ‘Poker’ name has derived from the word ‘hocus-pocus’ which is a word used by magicians.