Poker - Most famous casino game

Among the card players all over the world, Poker is one of the hottest games now a day. It is hard to tell where this game was invented first and who invented it. There are different stories which speak about all possible birthplaces as there are variations of the games. One among the most popular beliefs is that it was invented by the Chinese, around 900 A.D., and it was possibly derived from the Chinese "dominoes". It is mentioned in history that on New Year's Eve, 969, the Emperor Mu-tsung played "domino cards" with his wife.

According to some stories Poker might be originated from the Persian game "as nas" which is recorded in 17th century in history. The game "as nas" is a 5-player game, which requires a special deck of 25 cards with 5 suits. Another theory calls on the French "poque". The French who settled New Orleans around 1480 played Poque, a card game involving bluffing and betting. This game was referred to as "game of cheating". This was stated to be the first use of a deck consisting of spades, diamonds, clubs, and hearts.

Some historic articles also mention that fragments of cards have been tentatively dated to 12th or 13th century in Egypt. According to some historians, modern cards originated from the Indian card game called "Ganjifa", which also can be one possible ancestor of Poker. It is really very hard to find where and when exactly the game Poker was born, as almost all the historic books mention that somewhere, someday all known royal families and kings tried the game of cards. It is difficult to say if Poker has a single ancestor; it seems as if Poker derived its present day form from chunks from many different casino games.

It is found that the Poker has a strong relation with United States. It is said that the game traveled from New Orleans by steamboat up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. People who played Three-Card-Monte game where taken by Poker, they thought that Poker was more legitimate game. This game attracted all those who saw it, the game then spread via wagon and train. Some people tried to alter the rules and the way the original game was played, modifications such as stud poker, the draw, and the straight became popular, during the Civil War. Every person who tried to change the game added a feather in history of the game. There was a big change in 1875 for this game when joker was introduced as a wild card.

People did not stop altering the way they played the game; they tried different new techniques to make it more and more interesting. People started betting on the games, if someone won in the game; the amount that was agreed upon by all who played it, was given to one who finished first. This type of betting attracted even more crowd. Next in 1910, Nevada made it a crime to run a betting game. The Attorney General of California declared that draw poker was based upon skill and therefore the antigambling laws could not stop it. But stud poker was illegal, as it was based solely on chance. With this decision, draw poker games developed and grew. Nevada in 1931 legalized casino gambling, and it was a start of new casino era.

Poker today is one of the fastest growing and one of the most popular casino games. Poker will always be around and will be played all over the world. Poker has grown its own way and it will definitely keep growing, the next generation will play this game with some or no variations, but it will never be purged out from the page of history.