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Poker History - Origins of Poker
One night in 1832, four men played poker
aboard a Mississippi steamboat. Three of the men were professionals and
the other was a helpless sucker from Natchez. The game was rigged so
that the young man from Natchez would lose all of his money and he in
fact did.
Distraught, the young man attempted to
escape his miseries by jumping into the river. An observer prevented
this suicide attempt and led the young man back to a cabin. The
mysterious observer then returned to the game with the three sharks. In
the midst of a high stakes pot, the observer caught one of the
professional's cheating. He wrestled the cheat and pulled a knife on
him.
The observer yelled, 'Show your hand! If
it contains more than five cards I shall kill you!' As he twisted the
cheater's wrist, six cards fell to the table. The observer then took the
$70,000 pot,. He returned $50,000 of it to the man of Natchez and kept
$20,000 for his trouble.
'Who the devil are you, anyway?' cried
the cheat.
'I am James Bowie.' 1
In less than two centuries time, poker
has changed drastically. Once a game mainly played by cheats, outlaws,
and knife-makers aboard riverboats, it has developed into a celebrated
'sport' played worldwide. The cheat and hustler has been replaced by the
professional poker player, whose celebrity status is much more akin to a
professional athlete or movie star than an infamous outlaw. Poker hands
are no longer dealt by professional cheats who manipulate the deck;
instead, they are often dealt by software programs connecting players
from around the globe.
The exact origins of poker are unclear.
It seems to have originated from a 16th century Persian card game known
as As Nas. This game was played with 25 cards with 5 different suits.
The game played in a similar fashion to modern 5 card stud and possessed
similar poker hands rankings, such as three-of-a-kind. When Europeans
began to play the game, they called it 'poque' or 'pochen.' 2
While poker's origins may lie in Europe and Persia, it truly developed
in the United States. Poker was first widely played in New Orleans in
the early 1800's. Prior to the American Civil War, poker spread quickly
from New Orleans to towns throughout the Western frontier. 3
Poker's spread was the result of a general spread of gambling during the
era. The West was comprised largely of speculators and travelers, both
of whom are groups that enjoyed gambling. Gambling suited the
speculator's individualistic and risk-taking traits. Unburdened by
family needs and the social stigmas of Southern and Northern culture,
travelers were allowed to indulge in this vice for their own
entertainment. 4
Those responsible for poker's initial
boom were professional gamblers, trying to expand their craft. The
professional gambler viewed his occupation as quintessentially American.
They considered themselves entrepreneurial businessmen who took
advantage of America's growing obsession of gambling. However, the
public did not have such a rosy view of professional gamblers.
Gambling was viewed to be comprised of
two distinct groups. There was the player, who was considered to be a
gentlemen who merely enjoyed this form of entertainment in moderation.
In contrast, there was the professional, who aimed to simply make money
without any regard to moderation or propriety. Professional gamblers
were considered to contribute nothing to society. The public viewed
their practice as nothing more than one man trying to con another out of
his hard-earned money.5 This was especially the case because
professional gamblers often cheated in order to win money from their
victims.
Another practice of professional gamblers
that was particularly troublesome was their disregard for the social
status of their victim. "To [professional gamblers], as to prostitutes,
it seemed unprofessional to differentiate between paying customers. They
consequently played indiscriminately with all potential victims, from
the most upright planet to the meanest flatboatsman or, even worse, the
black slave 6 ." This practice slowly led to the
"democratization" of gambling in America. No long was gambling, poker in
particular, thought to be a practice of only the wealthy. Rather, it
became a practice to which people of all social ranks were accustomed.
Professional gamblers were involved in
both banking and percentage games, such as roulette and faro, as well as
card games. Of all games, faro was a particular favorite for both
professional and casual gamblers. Faro is a game where players would bet
on which cards would be dealt next. Both banking games, like faro, and
card games guaranteed the pro a steady income over the long run. Banking
and percentage games had a built-in house edge that guaranteed the
professional to be a statistical winner. These types of gamblers are
similar to the modern casino, which primarily rely on these types of
games for revenue. When professionals dealt card games, such as three
card monte or poker, they guaranteed themselves a steady income from
cheating. 7
Poker initially was played with one round
of betting. Players were dealt five cards face down and there was no
draw of cards. 8 Professional gamblers later modified the
rules in order to enhance the profitability of the game for them. After
1850, wild cards and bluffing became common practices in the game. The
draw was also added. The addition of the draw helped professionals
because it introduced another round of betting (meaning another
opportunity to cheat their opponents) as well as introducing more skill
to the game. 9
Poker playing became increasingly popular
as American gambling shifted from the frontier towns to the riverboats.
While gambling was tolerated on the Southwestern frontier during the
early 1800's, it came out of favor by the 1830's. The Western, frontier
culture of these towns was steadily replaced by Southern culture, which
was more averse to gambling. 10 Western towns passed
ordinances against gambling and many towns kicked out known gamblers.
Some gamblers were tarred and feathered and there were even instances
where vigilante groups lynched gamblers. 11 Since their trade
was no longer tolerated on land, professional gamblers took their trade
to the many steamboats navigating the Mississippi River. However,
carrying heavy equipment like a roulette wheel proved more difficult
aboard the steamboats, so card games like poker became an increasingly
popular game of choice for gamblers. 12
The California gold rush introduced a new
venue for poker playing. The gold rush resulted in a large influx of men
traveling to a new area, seeking to strike it rich. Unsurprisingly,
gambling houses sprouted in Northern California, offering an array of
gambling and entertainment opportunities for young men. Casinos employed
musicians and pretty women (not necessarily prostitutes) to entertain
gamblers as they played games such as roulette, faro, and blackjack.
13
During the early gold rush period, poker
was not popular at all in California. This is because gamblers preferred
games with more fast paced action. 14 Poker, especially the
traditional five card stud or draw, is fairly slow. Gamblers cannot
constantly double or lose all of their money in a single bet like they
can in roulette. However, poker would eventually become a California
pastime. As people became more settled in California and the gold rush
ended, their desire for fast action games like faro diminished, and they
had a renewed interest in slower games like poker. 15
Poker's growth during the 1800's was
largely the result of the increase in gambling along the American
frontier. Nevertheless, it managed to establish itself as a unique
gambling game, with characteristics notably different from the other
frontier gambling games.
Sources:
1 Recounted from "The Gamblers." Time
Life Books. Alexandria, Virginia. 1978. 56-60.
2 Hayano 8. Poker Faces. University of California Press. Berkeley. 1982
3 Findlay, John. People of Chance. Oxford University Press. New York.
1986. 48
4 Findlay 58.
5 Findlay 48-49.
6 Findlay 63.
7 Findlay 47.
8 Hayano 9.
9 Findlay 48.
10 Findlay 63.
11 Findlay 67.
12 Findlay 76.
13 The Gamblers 87.
14 The Gamblers 88.
15 Findlay 100-101.
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