The origin of the poker game is very old and in fact it originated from different card games as the present poker versions have the components of various games.
The beginning of game is marked with the Persian game "As Nas" popular in the 16-th century or the older game played in China in the 10-th century. So the game made the long way to the modern variation yet the main playing system and hand ranks was always quite similar.
In 1834 the book by Jonathan H. Green appeared. That book was the first written reference to poker. In his book the author described the rules of the “cheating game” which is close to the today’s poker game. Later this card game was named Poker. In the card game described in the reference book 20 cards deck containing only the Kings, Queens, Jacks, Aces and tens, was used. The gamblers (2-4) got five cards each. At time when the book appeared Poker game became the most widespread game which took the place of even the Three-Card Monte game.
The name “Poker” has very uncertain origin. In accordance with some of the beliefs its name originated from the French Poque that was used like the name of 17th century game. Additionally, Poque is viewed as the closest to present poker variation. However, it is possible to establish some links to the German Poshpiel game which also had the elements of bluffing technique. Some players are convinced that Poker name could come from Hindu word Pukka. Like the most popular version says the name Poker originated from the slang word “poke” used by the thieves. The gamblers which played poker could use this word adding “r” and thus we now got the name of Poker. Although, it also can originate from the word "hocus-pocus" used by the magicians.
Along its history the Poker game changed a lot. Firstly, as it has been already said, the game was played with twenty cards, later with 32 and now in almost all poker variants 52 cards deck is used. These days poker games are associated with the Wild West period, and really during the Wild West period the saloons that had the poker game could be found in each town from coast to coast. These days Poker gambling is regulated by the gambling laws and it is officially played in the gambling halls and the home poker games are also very popular.
