Poker is a card game whose main popular format is of American origin and is gaining more fans around the world. Since the emergence of this game, there have been many variations of format and rules adopted, so the evolution of the original game to the most widespread today is remarkable.

The truth is that poker is such a complex game and involves so many factors that long ago, from the beginning of its popularization, it was no longer a game of chance to be considered a game of skill in people's eyes. However, it was not until the recent year of 2010 that the International Association of Sport of Mind (IMSA) recognized poker as a “sport of the mind” and opened an interesting path for the sport in various countries of the world.

In Brazil, for example, where legislation has banned so-called “gambling” since 1946, poker was released from 2012. This is because the Sports Ministry has recognized the Brazilian Texas Hold'em Confederation as sports entity (Texas Hold'em is the most popular poker style in the world today, as you'll see throughout the text). Thus, the activity left the status of “marginalized” and gained a number of fans, including professionals who make a living from it. Before that, the games already happened, but always with breaches in the law and injunctions that authorized them, or, in a clandestine way.

The same was true in many other countries. To give you an idea, even in the United States there were limitations, as gambling promotion can only happen in some states that allow it. Therefore, poker was also only allowed in certain regions of the country.

In fact, poker has gone underground to collect a growing legion of fans worldwide. But how has an activity or sport with so many fans evolved so much that its recognition reaches the current level? Well, for the onlookers on duty and those who want to learn a little more about poker, learn more about the history of poker.

Understanding Poker

To understand the history of this game, it is important that you know the minimum of rules or at least the card combinations that surround it. If you already know how to play or understand the game, feel free to continue reading from the next subtitle. If you have little or no idea how poker is played, take a look at the brief explanation of rules to follow.

Basically, without considering the numerous format variations, poker is played through five cards with which players need to get the best combination. Currently the possible combinations as well as the order of importance are what you can see in the following image:

Depending on the format of the game, and each has its variation, there are two ways in which a round comes to an end. In the first, with the cards dealt and all bets placed, all participants show their hands and the one with the highest combination wins. In the other, players are betting as they believe they have the highest combination until only one, while everyone else gives up without showing the cards.

The important point in this second situation is that the biggest combination will not always win, since you either have the biggest combination or you make others believe that your combination is bigger than theirs, the famous bluff. By the way, this is one of the reasons why poker is not just a game of chance, as it is not just luck that is involved. In addition, "Bluff" was one of the names of poker at the beginning of its history, as can be seen below.

The beginning of poker

Some sources put the beginning of poker history in ancient eastern cultures over a thousand years ago. However, games before the nineteenth century were just similar formats from which poker varied, but the game itself, which started the game as it is today, has only more recent records.

It seems to be a consensus that poker originated in the first two decades of the nineteenth century, but without a definite date. According to the Pagat website, the earliest mentions are from books dating from the 1830s and 1840s, and the leading authors who witnessed poker's early years are Jonathan H. Green and Joe Cowell. Both describe the first 20-card poker format using only Aces (A), Kings (K), Checkers (Q), Jacks (J), and 10.

There is an interesting curiosity about the game in this format: there was no possibility of a draw. That's because the biggest combination would be 4 aces or 4 kings and an ace, so flush and straights were not considered, so there were no bigger combinations than the court. The adoption of straights and flushs only happened later and caused some discussion.

The move to 52-card play has been gradual and has been reported to have started in the 1830s, according to Sol Smith's account. This new format was being disseminated between 1830 and 1845. At that time, the introduction of “Flush” also happened as a new possibility of combination. The year 1850 marked the introduction of the draw - poker format in which 3 of the 5 cards dealt can be exchanged.

Before adopting the 52-card poker format, only four players could join the table.

According to the Pagat website, switching to a deck with more cards can have several reasons. Among them is the ability to accommodate more players; extend the newly discovered flush (straight didn't exist yet); and also allow the possibility of the draw.

It was here that the image of poker began to change from gambling to gambling. With the draw, there was a new pause during the round to raise the stakes, all of which contributed to the game becoming more exciting. Thus, the novelties adopted allowed a new range of possibilities that include factors that go beyond luck. One of these factors is the bluff, which, incidentally, became the name of the game, according to records of authors of the time.

Importantly, these innovations were introduced by Brag, an English poker predecessor. Anyway, this game is no longer played in America, and the modern format of the UK is quite different from the old 19th century American.

The evolution

Poker's greatest popularity came between the 1870s and 1880s, with the Civil War. After that, the game evolved and changed its format a lot.

A few decades later, in the early twentieth century, a significant change took place: the creation of Texas Hold'em. Basically, in this format, players are dealt only two cards, while five others are dealt on the table. The cards on the table are being revealed and as this happens players can increase their bets. Texas Hold'em became the most popular in 1970 when it became featured in the World Series of Poker, the most famous annual championship in Las Vegas.

Major poker championships are organized worldwide

With the advent of the internet, the number of fans and practitioners of the sport has been increasing more and more. There are currently worldwide poker competitions that are played entirely online by the participants, without having to travel to the venues of the big contests.

* Posted on 9/11/2015