No one really knows exactly who or when poker was invented. One of the earliest (also very similar to poker) was the German game named Pochspiel. Poker is thought to have come from the Persian game of As Nas. Historian R.F. Foster stated that “The game of poker, as first played in the United States, five cards to each player from a twenty-card pack, is undoubtedly the Persian game of As Nas”. Poker was first introduced in the U.S. when gambling spread north from Mississippi.

Gambling served as a pass time for the workers on the Mississippi riverboats. It kept spreading north all the way up along the Mississippi river. Poker also spread to the west of the U.S. during the time of the gold rush. After the gold rush when people started moving back across the U.S. they brought back gambling with them. From Gambling, poker was invented.

Poker is not only one game but is many card games put into one category. It is different from gambling. For people who play poker, they know in poker you bet, but in gambling you take chances without betting. Poker prizes can range from thousands of dollars to millions, depending on where you play; whether it’s in Las Vegas or the World Series of Poker. Draw poker, Stud poker, and Community card poker are the world’s most popular types of poker. Hold Em’ is also a very popular game. Some ground rules about poker include the following: High-low split: The players that have the highest and lowest hands get the money equally split between them (which is also called splitting the pot). Sometimes a player qualifies for the low hand.

Lowball Poker: The player that has the lowest hand wins. The highest hand does not matter in this case. Anaconda: Players can pass (cards) directly to one another. Kill Game: If a player wins twice in a row during a fixed game, the stakes are then raised (doubled). At the start of the 21st Century the popularity of poker shot up almost immediately because poker was starting to be available on the internet, satellite TV, and hand-held broadcasting systems such as hand-helds that stream live TV.

With the world of poker being so popular, the poker winners soon became celebrities. Poker is getting popular fast and more people are becoming interested in it. Poker is also enjoyed by many around the world.


By Dave Saltonstall
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