Monday, September 14, 2009

How Poker Became Popular - A Look At The History of Poker

By Richard Brown

Poker was started in some form about ten centuries ago. The various features of such games like domino combinations and bluffing were developed at that time.

A game similar to poker is believed to have been invented in China in 969 AD. The game used to be played by the royals. There have been instances where it was played by the emperor also. It is said to be the first form of poker

The Egyptians also used to play a game similar to poker in the 12th century. The game, called Ganjifa, had 96 cards which were made of slices of wood. Another game with 25 cards was popular among the Persians too.

The Spanish also played a game named Primero where 3 cards were passed to a player. The French and the germans developed their own versions of games similar to poker from the Spanish primero. Bluffing was an integral part of all these games.

Later, the game was spread to Canada when the French arrived there. It soon became popular in whole of Canada. We find references to poker in a book published by Jonathan Green. There is a lot of information about it in the book. This game as carried to other countries where the Europeans traveled.

Poker got popular in the United States also. Poker tables were established in nearly every town as more and more people began to like it. Its popularity shot up during the civil war and the European influence to the game ended when the joker card was introduced in 1875.

The popularity of poker has increased a lot in the last two centuries. Various variations of the game have been developed in this time. It has become a game in which people spend billions of dollars every year. It is played not only on tables but a large number of people play this game online too.

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