The History of Poker.

While betting games date back thousands of years, a card game that closely resembles the “poker” we know and love today originated in the early 18th century. This game could have spawned from the German pochspiel, the French poque, or, though it's not as likely, the Persian as-nas.

Poker flourished in New Orleans saloons and on Mississippi steamboats, which began chugging along around 1811. Because of the preponderance of French culture in this area, it's most likely that poker did in fact descend from the French game poque.

The first known reference to poker can be found in James Hildreth’s Dragoon Campaigns to the Rocky Mountains, published in 1836, but two other books [Jonathan H. Green's Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling (1843) and Joe Cowell's Thirty Years Passed Among the Players in England and America (1844)] indicate that the term was in use by 1829.

The form of poker described by Green and Cowell was played with a 20-card pack (ace through 10) evenly distributed among four players. There was no draw, and bets were placed on the following hands: one pair, two pair, triplets, a “full,” and four of a kind, with four aces being the top hand.

The 52-card pack emerged in the mid-1830s, allowing more players to play each game. The the flush was also introduced around this time. Influenced by “brag,” a similar three-card British game, poker adopted the draw, making the game infinitely more complex. Straights were not considered valid until the 1860s. Many conservative players still refused to acknowledge the straight at this time, and those who believed the game was more exciting with the straight had to fight for it for decades. Their argument centered on the fact that if four aces was deemed the highest hand, then this hand was absolutely unbeatable, whereas it's possible for more than one player to have a straight flush.

A definitive reference to the rules of poker didn't appear until 1905, when Robert Foster's book Practical Poker was published. This tome reflected the games Draw and Stud. Wild Widow, a game resembling Texas Hold 'em, wasn't referred to until 1919. In this game, a card was dealt face-up to the table before players received their fifth cards. Players had to make the best five-card hand using this card and their own hands.

In 1970, the World Series of Poker held its first tournament, inspiring poker tournaments in many casinos. Poker's popularity spiked in the 21st century due to the Internet's introduction of online betting and the online casino. Because of the widespread coverage of poker tournaments on television, talented poker professionals have become celebrities.

Poker is now the most popular card game in the world. Revenues from poker websites were estimated to be $200 million per month in 2005. Online poker is almost just as popular in Europe as it is in America. If one were to play "poker en ligne" (online poker) in France, he or she would be subject to roughly the same laws as online gamblers in the States, due a measure the French government enacted in 2005 that is very similar to the U.S.'s UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act).

In recent years, poker tournaments have been sweeping colleges and universities. For example, recent college grads Craig Rabin and Jason Beck started a poker tournament that will tour college campuses such as Illinois State University, the University of South Carolina and Ohio University beginning fall 2008. Students can even enroll in poker classes such as “Poker and the Meaning of Life,” offered to Freshmen for credit at the University of South Dakota. This course uses the game of poker as a tool to teach students how to make important, informed decisions under pressure.