The history of poker is a matter of debate. The following timeline illustrates the main theories on the evolution of poker from the 19th century till present times.
Created by awaitngmiraclez on Jun 24, 2008
Last updated: 03/12/10 at 03:36 AM
Major poker tournament fields have grown dramatically because of the growing popularity of online satellite-qualifier tournaments where the prize is an entry into a major tournament. The 2003 and 2004 WSOP champions, Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, respectively, won their seats to the main event by winning online satellites.
Poker's popularity experienced an unprecedented spike at the beginning of the 21st century, largely because of the introduction of online poker and the invention of the hole-card camera, which turned the game into a spectator sport. Viewers could now follow the action and drama of the game, and broadcasts of poker tournaments such as the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour brought in huge audiences for cable and satellite TV distributors. Because of the increasing coverage of poker events, poker pros became more like celebrities, with poker fans all over the world entering into expensive tournaments for the chance to play with them. This increased camera exposure also brings a new dimension to the poker professional's game—the realization that their actions may be aired later on TV.
In 1999, Late Night Poker debuted on British television, introducing poker for the first time to many Europeans.
http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/P/poker/about_the_show.html
In 1998, the poker-themed film Rounders starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton was released.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128442/
Free poker online was played as early as the late 1990s in the form of IRC poker. Shortly thereafter Planet Poker was the first online cardroom to offer real money games. Author Mike Caro was one of the founders and the "face" of Planet Poker.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_poker
n the 1990s, poker and casino gambling spread across the United States, most notably to Atlantic City, New Jersey.
http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/viewarticle.php?id=289
By 1990s some gaming historians including David Parlett started to challenge the notion that poker is a direct derivative of As Nas.
http://www.cardplayer.com/history_of_poker/article/7-poque-or-poqas-to-pokuh
In 1987, community card poker games were introduced in California, home of the largest poker casinos in the world.[9] These games proved far more exciting to players than the draw poker variants that were played up until that time.
http://www.playwinningpoker.com/poker/california/
Texas Hold’em, christened the ‘cadillac of poker’ rose to promienence in the 1970's when it was featured as the title game in the World Series of Poker. Today, Texas Hold’em is indisputably the most frequently played and most popular poker game in the world, played in casinos and on home game tables the world over.
Other variations such as Omaha, Stud Poker, Manila, Draw Poker and Razz are also popular, but nothing can compete with the thrill of No Limit Texas Hold’em.
Johnny Chan at the World Series of PokerNo Limit Texas Hold’em played at The World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour have been captivating American television audiences to the point that there are now made for TV events such as the National Heads Up Poker Championship and the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions being filmed especially for TV and shown in prime time.
http://www.poker.com/history-of-poker.htm
# Modern tournament play became popular in American casinos after the World Series of Poker began, in 1970.[8] Notable champions from these early WSOP tournaments include Johnny Moss, Amarillo Slim, Bobby Baldwin, Doyle Brunson, and Puggy Pearson.
# Later in the 1970s, the first serious strategy books appeared, notably Super/System by Doyle Brunson (ISBN 1-58042-081-8) and The Book of Tells by Mike Caro (ISBN 0-89746-100-2), followed later by The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky (ISBN 1-880685-00-0).
http://gaming.unlv.edu/WSOP/history.html
In the 1937 edition of Foster's Complete Hoyle, R. F. Foster declared: "the game of poker, as first played in the United States, five cards to each player from a twenty-card pack, is undoubtedly the Persian game of as nas."
http://www.cardplayer.com/history_of_poker/article/7-poque-or-poqas-to-pokuh
#
5 Card Draw rose from relative obscurity during the American Civil War to the most popular game for almost a century.
Nevada made it a felony to run a betting game. However the Attorney General of California declared that draw poker was based upon skill and therefore the anti-gambling laws could not stop it. But stud poker was still deemed illegal as it was based solely on chance. With this decision, draw poker games developed and grew. This caused Nevada to reverse itself in 1931 and legalize casino gambling.
http://www.poker.com/history-of-poker.htm
#
5 Card Draw rose from relative obscurity during the American Civil War to the most popular game for almost a century.
Nevada made it a felony to run a betting game. However the Attorney General of California declared that draw poker was based upon skill and therefore the anti-gambling laws could not stop it. But stud poker was still deemed illegal as it was based solely on chance. With this decision, draw poker games developed and grew. This caused Nevada to reverse itself in 1931 and legalize casino gambling.
7 Card Stud then took over the throne shortly before WWII and maintained its position for about 40 years with the help of the new and thriving Las Vegas casino industry.
http://www.poker.com/history-of-poker.htm
American developments: community card poker games introduced. The spread of the game to other countries, particularly in Asia, is often attributed to the U.S. military.
American developments of poker: lowball and split-pot poker
American developments to poker introduction of the wild card.
During the Wild West period of United States history, a saloon with a Poker table could be found in just about every town from coast to coast. It was extremely popular during the Civil War when the soldiers of both armies played. European influence of poker ended when the joker was introduced as a wild card in 1875.
http://www.poker.com/history-of-poker.htm
The earliest contemporary reference to Poker occurs in J. Hildreth’s Dragoon Campaigns to the Rocky Mountains, published in 1836; but two slightly later publications independently show it to have been well in use by 1829. Both are found in the published reminiscences of two unconnected witnesses: Jonathan H. Green, in Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling (1843), and Joe Cowell, an English comedian, in Thirty Years Passed Among the Players in England and America (1844).
http://www.pagat.com/vying/pokerhistory.html
Jonathan H. Green made one of the earliest written references to poker being played on Mississippi riverboats in 1834. In his writing he mentions rules to the "cheating game," which quickly began to supplant the popular cardsharp game of 3-card monte on the gambling circuit. Players welcomed the new game as it was more a challenging and 'honest' gamble than the notoriously rigged 3-card game previously played. Poker was born when Green took more than a passing interest in the new game and named the 'Cheating Game' in his book 'An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling'.
http://www.poker.com/history-of-poker.htm
It was reported that Poker was played in New Orleans in 1829， as reported by English actor Joseph Crowell，with a deck of 20 cards and four players betting on which player's hand was worth the most。
In Jonathan H. Green's book, An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling (G. B. Zieber, Philadelphia, 1843), he mentions the spread of the game from there to the rest of the country by Mississippi riverboats, on which gambling was a common pastime for the common folk. Poker spread north along the Mississippi River to the West during the gold rush, and is thought to have become a part of the frontier pioneer culture.
Soon after, the 20-card game was being challenged by the 52-card game in the mid-1830s，to accommodate more players and partly to give more scope to the recently introduced flush (the straight was as yet unknown), but chiefly to ensure there were enough cards for the draw - another relative novelty, and one that was to turn Poker from a gamble to a game of skill. as developed by the Americans.
The gradual adoption of a 52-card pack was made partly to accommodate more players, perhaps These novelties were regular features of Poker’s English relative Brag as played in its early 19th-century American form. (Brag is no longer played in America, and modern British Brag differs substantially from 19th century American Brag.)During the American Civil War, many additions were made, including draw poker, stud poker (the five-card variant), and the straight.
http://www.pagat.com/vying/pokerhistory.html
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