History of Poker is long dating back to the ancient
times. The Persians played a game called As-Nas, which some believe to be
the ancestor of the game as we know it today. The XVII century Europe had
produced a number of Poker versions. Its French variant called Poque
migrated to America. At the begining of the XIX century, the popularity of
the game picked up the pace and with a few modifications, the game was
renamed and took its current form. The game's popularity is still growing
even today.
The very word Poker comes from the French word for the
XVIII century game of poque.
Another possible explenation of the word is its similarity to a slang term "poke",
which was used by pickpockets. Cardsharps who used this 20-card game for
cleaning suckers' wallets ("poke") might have used this word with an
"r" at the end, hence the word "poker".
Jonathan H. Green was the first to mention the game in
1834. Green
learned the rules of Poker and in his writing, he refered to it as the
"cheating game," being played on Mississippi riverboats. When he realized a
growing interest in the game, he took upon himself to name it and Poker was
born.
In the past, Poker was considered a game of chance or
simply as a gambling game. Today, it is believed that the game is based upon
skills. Experienced players win more often than beginers. Austrian
governement removed the game from its list of governement run monopoly and
allowed it to be played in private casinos.
Poker has grown to be a sporting game and it is very
often played in international tournaments. Every week there is a Poker
tournament in some part of the world.
Currently, Poker is one of the fastest growing sporting
events, but hardly every treated as sport. The greatest Poker event, World
Poker Series, attracts players from every part of the world, who compete for
money and the Title to become the greatest poker player, a sort of world
championship.
