The History Of Poker

The history of poker is varied. It is hard to tell at what point poker became so popular or even where it started. Poker is most closely associated with the Wild West of America, but it didnt really start there. Poker has actually been around for more than 1000 years as different variations. In Persia the game was As Nas. This game started in the 16th century. In the 17th century Poker made its way to France.

The game of poker actually made it to the U.S. in the 18th century with the French settlements around New Orleans. From New Orleans it spread to the rest of the country. From this time the poker game began to change. It was no longer a five card draw or stud poker. Poker became 5 card stud, 7 card stud and Texas Holdem. Omaha and Omaha Hi Lo didnt begin for a couple of decades after the Texas Holdem variation.

In the 1970s Texas Holdem was the most popular poker game in the casinos. It was played at the first World Series of Poker Tournament and has been since. The WSOP is played each year with players from around the world meeting at an agreed upon location. The poker tournament is even televised.

In the late 1990s poker saw another change. Instead of more variations on the original games these variations were publicised on the internet. At the beginning online gambling was not very popular. It took about five years to truly become a billion dollar industry for the world. Despite the online world of poker being popular, some countries will not allow online poker. The U.S. has several states that refuse online poker and other casinos. This is changing yet again as more places have to open their online doors due to regulations and laws being made.