The History and Evolution of Modern Poker

17.02.2022

We often refer to poker as though it is one game, but it is in fact an overarching term used to describe a collection of similar sets of rules. Over the years, what we now know as poker has evolved independently in several different countries and eventually morphed into the many different variants that are played today. 

It is a little difficult to know exactly how many variants there are today as new ones are created on a regular basis while others become extinct due to no one wanting to play them anymore. What we do know, though, is that there are hundreds of variants from around the world today, some of which are widely known by players while others are more niche.  

Each variant has evolved in a slightly different way to the others, with some like Texas Hold’em and Caribbean Stud Poker being named after the regions in which they were created, while others have taken on names that reflect their unique rules such as five-card draw and seven-card stud. 

But while they each have their own backstories, each variant has a common ancestry. 

The Early Days

Poker, as we know it today, is believed to have begun around the 19th century, but its roots go back much further than that. The exact birthplace of poker is disputed among historians, with some suggesting a similar game was played in 10th-century China while others say its true ancestor is the 16th-century Persian game of “As Nas”. 

As Nas is believed to have fallen out of favor during the early 1990s and to have almost completely gone extinct by the end of the century. It used a set of cards that was different to the 52-card four-suit deck that most of us are familiar with today. Like most modern poker variants, it was played in rounds and involved the player trying to make a strong hand and to bluff. 

Before it disappeared, As Nas made its way to Europe through the many interactions taking place between the two continents in the 17th century onwards. Europeans fell in love with the game, creating their own versions. By the 19th century, France, Germany, and Spain each had their own games that were known as poque, pochen, and primero respectively. 

Exporting to the New World

Around this same time, Europeans were leaving their home continent in their droves, searching for new opportunities in the Americas. The French took poque with them, enjoying it in their settlements on the other side of the Atlantic. 

It was here that the French poque became the English poker and the game that we know today began to take shape. 

It spread around the United States thanks to crews of riverboats that transported goods up and down the Mississippi River and it soon became commonplace in the saloons of the Wild West. 

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Globalization

As with many things exported to the Americas, the US version was re-exported back to the European continent. It is said that England’s Queen Victoria learned of the game after overhearing a US diplomat explaining the game to members of her court. 

By the 1920s, Americans that had traveled to Europe had helped to plant poker seeds across the continent. These eventually blossomed into huge vines that covered just about every country in the world. 

The New Sheriff in Town

For a long time, the most popular form of poker was five-card draw. Even today, this variant is a favorite among newbies as it is one of the simplest to understand. However, in more recent decades it’s been overtaken by Texas Hold’em which has become the most dominant.

This didn’t happen overnight though; it is believed that it was first played in the early 1900s in Robstown, Texas. It went mostly unnoticed until Crandell Addington introduced the variant to Las Vegas in 1967. 

It quickly took off thanks to having more strategic elements that help to separate the great players from the average ones. It would take a few more years to take hold though, as Texas Hold’em remained confined to the Golden Nugget until around 1969. 

Then, The Dune organized one of the first-ever Texas Hold’em poker tournaments, attracting high rollers that wanted to put their skills to the test. This eventually led to the development of the World Series of Poker, the biggest tournament on the planet today. 

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