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History
of Poker
5 minutes to learn – a lifetime to master
Poker is a game of strategy, guts, patience, luck and much
more. Almost anyone can learn the rules of Poker in 5 minutes
but it would take a lifetime for most to master the game of
poker. It is not enough to simply know the rules of Poker,
you have to be able to strategize, be able to read your opponents
and find their “tells”, know when to bet and when to fold
or raise and when to just cash in your Poker chips and walk
away. Of course being the luckiest person on the planet would
not hurt your Poker game either. Poker is not simply a mans
game, it is rather a unisex game and many women excel in Poker
as good as the men do. There are many women in the professional
poker tournaments and they are able to keep up and surpass
their male counterparts.
Different
Poker games
There are more than 130 variations of Poker games so there
is always a game to suit anybody’s taste. The most popular
games are:
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Texas
Hold'em Poker
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Five
Card Stud Poker
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Seven
Card Stud Poker
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Omaha
8 Poker
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Caribbean
Stud Poker
History of
Poker
Nobody is certain about the exact origins of Poker or poker
chips. Some argue that it started sometime in the 16th
century in Persia with a game not too different from today’s
5 card stud Poker. The original Persian name for the game
is unknown but when Poker was adopted and modified by Europeans
it received names such as Brag (English), Poque (French) &
Pochen (German). Some argue that the modern name of Poker
was derived from the French game of Poque and some argue that
it came from the German game Pochen and then there are those
that insist it came from the Hindu name of Pukka. While the
exact origins of both the game and name of Poker are not known
it is certain that the modern day game of Poker was created
in the United States in the 1800’s. The game was introduced
to French settlers in New Orleans around 1730 by Persian sailors
as a three card game and the first references to the modern
5 card Poker games dates back to 1829 as a game played on
steamboats. The game spread to other cities by river boats
and eventually with the advance of railroads and the help
of wagons it spread to the rest of the country.
Dead Man’s Hand - History of poker
James Butler Hickock, one of the most famous people in all of poker history and better known as Wild Bill Hickock, was
shot dead in a saloon in the city of Deadwood in the Dakota
territory. He was seated at one of his usual poker
tables playing Poker while Jack McCall walked in and shot
him in the back of his head where he fell over his playing
cards and poker
chips. Since Wild Bill was a famous lawman and entertainer
in his time the news of his death spread fast and so did the
last Poker hand that he was holding. At the time he was shot
he was holding two pair black aces and two pair black eights
which became known as “Dead Man’s Hand” of Poker. The fifth
card that he was holding is not known for certain.
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