The history of poker

Poker is a card game that lately has become immensely popular. One of the reasons for the increased interest is internet poker. Since the end of the 1990-ies more and more poker rooms have appeared online. The media has observed this poker trend and today several TV channels broadcast different types of poker events.

It is not known with certainty from where poker originates. There are several theories. Some are of the opinion that it comes from Germany while others think it has its origins in the Hindu culture. In the 1830-ies a game known as the "cheating game" was played in the U. S. It was played by 2 to 4 persons using a deck of cards consisting of 20 cards (all face cards). In 1834 a man named Jonathan A. Green wrote down the earliest known rules for the "cheating game" and after a while he chose to rename the game to poker.

There are theories regarding the origins for the word poker. A common suggestion is that the word originates from the French game "poque". A third theory is that the word originates from the German game "pochspiel" while others believe that it comes from the "hocus pocus" of magic.