The history of poker
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The History of Poker

Like many gambling games that we now play, a version of poker had a start in ancient China. A later version was played in Egypt and Persia. The French took a game called Primero from the Spanish and developed a game called poque. Sailors brought all these games to other shores via ships, which docked in the ports of different country. The French brought it to New Orleans by sea and by French Canadian settlers.

From there it traveled up the Mississippi. As the traffic grew on the Mississippi, gamblers began to set up shop on the paddle wheelers that made their way up and down the Mississippi. This helped to spread the game throughout the west and into California after the gold rush began. The Americans added many facets to the game and the game, as we know it today is the American version of poker. Gamblers helped to spread the game and in the early days the prejudice toward this group of cheaters and thieves that used the game to steal money from the unsuspecting. The old west stories are replete with fights and killings that were the result of a poker game.

The famous Wild Bill Hickok killed a man in a gunfight over bad blood from a poker game. The game has come a long way since the riverboats of the Mississippi and the gamblers that plied their cheating ways on the unsuspecting.

The old west mentalities of real men win by honest means lead poker to come out of the shadows into respectability. Businessmen started to have their Friday night games and United States Presidents became advocates of an evening of poker among friends. Men in the military from the Civil War on favored the game. Old west casinos became natural places to play poker and as the county became more settled states that did not allow gambling allowed poker as it was considered a game of skill.

The Internet and online poker have been a huge factor in pokers growth in the world. WSOP and WPT on TV have captured viewer’s attention and now there is a poker session of some kind almost every week on TV. Online play is enjoyed by millions of players. The trend is for even more growth; even in the face of the US governments attempt to control online gaming of any kind. Poker is an American tradition that will be hard to ever control.
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