Poker is the most popular card game in the history of gambling. Because this game has changed the way most people look at gambling it would only be fitting to write up a history of one of the most iconic games of all time.

The word poker could very likely spawn from the Irish word poca which mean pocket. Some argue that it stems from the French word poque, which descended from the German word pochen which means ‘to bluff’. Poker is thought to be a love child of two games: primero from the Renaissance and brelan from France. The English were very fond of the French game brelan and created their own version called brag, or bragg as it was known at the time. The English version of the game introduced the skill of deceit otherwise known as bluffing. It is commonly agreed that these three games helped shape poker into what we know and love.

More than a hundred years ago the game was still played in a different way as it was reported by an English actor by the name of Joseph Crowell. The actor said that poker was played in New Orleans in 1829, with a deck of twenty cards and four players betting on which player's hand was the most valuable. Soon after Crowell’s report, Jonathan H. Green wrote a book entitled An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling. In this book Green describes the increase in popularity of poker as it sails up the Mississippi River. The card game was all the rage on riverboats traveling up through the country and when the gold rush hit the game moved west. After poker moved west card players began to use a full fifty-two card deck, and the flush was established.

Draw and five card stud poker and the straight were pioneered during the American Civil War. Around 1875 the Americans developed the idea of the wild card, then the lowball and split pot poker in 1900 and finally community card poker games such as Texas Hold’em in 1925. The U.S. military is recognized as spreading the game to Asia and other countries. Poker was as much a piece of a soldiers’ ensemble as was the rifle.

Poker is imbedded in the history of the United States of America. Most people may not realize that this game has created everyday jargon such as ace in the hole, beats me, high roller, cash in, pass the buck, poker face and a whole slew of other popular phrases.