Poker is Born

Along Time Ago
It’s difficult to pin down the origin of poker but historians believe that the Chinese game of domino cards contributed to poker’s development sometime around the year 969. In Egypt around the 12th century, Egyptians, began enjoying card games. In the 16th century, Persians invented “Ganjifa”, also known as Treasure Cards. Ganjifa decks were much larger than standard poker decks and contained 96 elaborately decorated cards. The Persian game of “As Nas” was played with Ganjifa decks and became extremely popular.

Primero
Around the same time a Spanish game called “Primero” was born. It involved three cards being dealt to each of the players who would bluff or increase bets while holding poor cards, just as we do in poker. Germans soon began playing a game called “Pochen,” and the French started to play a game called Poque. These sprang from Primero, which is often referred to as the mother of modern poker.

Poque
“Poque” became the national card game of France. It became popular in the new world eventually traveling to New Orleans and up the Mississippi River where modern poker was further developed. In the Mississippi River region by 1800, poker was played with 52 cards, and included both straight poker and stud poker. A 20 card poker game was a variant for two players and used the Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten. These forms of poker eventually replaced 3-Card Monte.