Some basic facts about Poker

Poker has been around for quite some time now. The first mention of the game similar to Poker, refer to 1526. Early versions of poker included poker hands made out of three cards which was called "primero" in Spain and in Italy, and "la prime" - in France. The combinations that were evaluated: three identical cards, pairs, and three cards of one suit, called a flush.

In 1700 poker has switched closes to his current version with five cards instead of 3. Poker were called back than - Bragg (brag) in England, Pohen (pochen) in Germany and Pok (poque) in France.

Poker game was brought to America through the French colonists who first settled in the territory of Louisiana. It wasn't long till the game spread to the Missouri River and after that across the country. But this was still not the version of poker we know today. Actually poker as we play it today was first mentioned back in 1829 in America by the English actor Joe Kauela.

In 1834 poker had began to be played with a deck of 52 cards. It was even announced as the national card game of the United States, (which is kind of ironic when you think about the legislations today regarding poker in the U.S.). But legal or not, poker remains today the most popular game in the U.S. among the card games.

Poker returned to Europe from the States to after the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, Colonel Jacob Schenck in 1870, presented this game at the court of Queen Victoria. But in those days the game is not very popular throughout Europe. It has spread there only during the First World War when American soldiers played it and the local crowd was fascinated by the game.

These days, thanks to the internet, poker received a new stage which highlighted it like it was never before. It is one of the most played online games among the different card games available online. While you are reading this article there are thousands of poker games and poker tournaments going around the web all over the world by players that are sitting in front of their home monitors. Millions of dollars are passing from hand to hand and the excitement level is beyond words. When you think about it's the perfect combination - money, adrenalin, winners, losers, glory and maybe some broken keyboards.

You can find someone to play poker against at any time and any day. You can participate in poker tournaments or play is fast hands games, you can play free poker games or real money poker, (well as long as it's legal in your country), you can get information about the game, how to play poker? How to become a professional poker player, watch videos about it and the list goes on. It's interesting to try and guess what those people back in 1700 would say if they'd known what their favorite card game went through since they first learned about it.