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History of Poker

Poker is a game which involves betting, hand ranking and bluffing. There are many theories on the origin of poker. R.F Foster, an expert on card games, traces the origin of poker to the Persian game of As Nas. The old school of thought tries to draw the ancestry of poker from earlier games, such as the French game Poque, the German Pochen, the renaissance game Primero, the French Brelan, the English Brag and so on. The modern theorists believe that poker originated in the early or mid-1700 and became popular in the Mississippi river region by 1800 where river boats facilitated the spread of the game to other parts of the United States.

Poker has many variants and sub-variants, and they differ in terms of the hand values used, the number of betting rounds, betting limits and so on. The general format of poker is the same for most games. Once the cards are dealt, a player can make a bet. Players can call (match a bet), fold (forfeit their interests in the hand) or raise (increase the size of the bet). Betting continues until all the players have either called or folded. After all betting rounds are finished; the best hand wins the pot. One of the most known poker tournaments is the World Series of Poker (WSOP), which popularized the modern format of poker and commenced in 1970. From the year 1987, casinos witnessed a shift from draw poker to community card poker games.

Online Poker

Statistics from the Christiansen Capital Advisors state that online poker revenues reached $2.4 billion in 2005. When compared to the traditional version, online poker can be played for free or at minimum stakes online. In the late 1990s, free online poker was played using Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Planet Poker was the first online real money card room, which opened in 1998. Today, online card rooms provide training for new players and help them master the art of poker before they take the plunge and play for real money. Most card rooms (both online and traditional casinos) take a rake percentage of the pot, which is one of the revenue sources for the casino.

Poker craze is growing and online card rooms are supporting this trend. Major online sites offer satellite tournaments through which players can enter real-life poker events. A great example is Chris Moneymaker who entered the 2003 WSOP through a satellite tournament and won the main event. TV coverage has greatly contributed to the popularity of poker players including Doyle Brunson and Daniel Negreanu who are considered Poker royalty.