Poker

Everyone knows of the game of poker. However, have you ever asked yourself where the poker card game originated? The truth is that the game of poker has a long history which goes back two-thousand years!

The first record of a game similar to modern day poker was played in China in the 1st century A.D. The game was played with dominoes by the Chinese Emperor Mu-tsung and his wife.

However, it wasn’t until the first playing cards were introduced in 12th and 13th century Egypt and introduced to Persia in the 16th century that the poker game truly got its start. Persians in the 16th century played a popular card game known as As Nas which was very similar to the modern day poker card game. As Nas consisted of rounds of betting and ranked card hands, just like the poker we know and love today.

In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries card games with the objective of maintaining the highest ranked hand and utilizing a strategy of bluffing were also introduced in Spain, France and Germany. However, it wasn’t until the Wild West era of United States history that the poker game was officially played.

It’s hard to believe that the game of poker originated in China two-thousand years ago and travelled all the way to the United States to become one of the most popular card games in the world! Playing poker is making history—who knows what will happen to the game in another two-thousand years!