Professional Poker
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Copyright © 1998-2009 Roger A. Lee and History Guy Media; Last Modified: 07.10.09 "The History Guy" is a Registered Trademark. |
Poker is a popular card game which has become increasingly known for its high-stakes betting and has been popularized through extensive television and media coverage of the World Series of Poker, held each year in Las Vegas It is believed that the modern version of poker originated by the early or mid-1700's, and spread throughout the Mississippi River region by 1800. The game is played in a variety of forms, with 52 cards, and includes both straight poker and stud poker. The development and growing popularity of poker is linked to the the invention of commercial gambling. As casinos and legalized gambling grew in acceptance and popularity in the United States, so to did the game of poker, with its attendant betting and wagering, gain increased acceptance. An English actor, Joseph Crowell, reported in his memoirs of a game played in New Orleans in 1829, involving a deck of 20 cards, with four players betting on which player's hand was most valuable, described the spread of the game from there to the rest of the country by Mississippi riverboats, on which gambling was a common pastime. As it spread north along the Mississippi River and to the West during the gold rush, it is thought to have become a part of the frontier pioneer ethos. Soon after this spread, the full 52-card English deck was used and the flush was introduced. The draw was added prior to 1850 (when it was first mentioned in print in a handbook of games). During the American Civil War, many additions were made including stud poker (the five-card variant), and the straight. Further American developments followed, such as the wild card (around 1875), lowball and split-pot poker (around 1900), and community card poker games (around 1925). The game and jargon of poker have become important parts of American culture and English culture. Such phrases and clichés as ace in the hole, ace up one's sleeve, beats me, blue chip, call one's bluff, cash in, high roller, pass the buck, poker face, stack up, up the ante, when the chips are down, wild card, and others are used in everyday conversation, even by those unaware of their origins at the poker table.
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