Although the game of poker is thought to have originated outside America, particularly in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, some of the most important additions and developments of the game came after it had spread stateside.
When the French colonials moved to Canada, they took with them the game of poque, a three card betting game that had become the national card game of France. Then, at the turn of the 18th century, the French Canadian settlers who founded the city of New Orleans the game spread raucously there before travelling up the Mississippi river, out of the state of Louisiana and infecting the entirety of the country until the whole of America had adopted it.
One of the earliest recorded references we know of to the game of poker was written by Jonathan H. Green in 1834. He referred to what he called the “cheating game”, which had developed from the earlier three card version. Fascinated by the game and its intricacies and deceptions, Green wrote a book called “An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling” documenting its rules and stratagems. From this record, poker really emerged, given its now famous name by Green himself. Its popularity increased even further during what is often called the “Wild West” period of American history, during which in almost every town in every state one could find a saloon bar with a poker table in place.
The American influence on what had once been a European game became most prominent in 1875, when the Joker was introduced as a Wild Card.
Poker remains one of the most popular card games in the world, as we are obviously a race that like to gamble – from the earliest playing cards of China and Egypt, the game we know today like video poker has affixed itself in history.
