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hustler has been replaced by the professional poker player, whose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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