The forerunner of Poker, primera
(Spain) or primero (England), was a 16th century European
three-card game that involved betting. Successful hands
in this game were pairs, three of a kind, and three cards
of the same suit, called a flux, evolving into what is currently
known as a flush. The betting and bluffing skills of
the game had been incorporated into five card games such as
Brag (England), Pochen (Germany), and Poque (France) by the
18th century. The importance of bluffing (betting on
a poor hand) was attested to by the fact that pochen means
"to bluff."
Poker, in the 18th century, migrated
to the Louisiana territory in North America with French colonists.
It was here that the term Poque was corrupted into today's
commonly known term, Poker. From here, the game spread
up the Mississippi River and out west as the development of
the country took place. Poker was adapted to the 52
card deck by 1834. In the mid 19th century poker made
it's way into books on card games. Initially, poker
was only played by men, eventually joined by women in the
mid-20th century it was played by women as well.
Poker, in it's current form,
was taken back to Europe by the U.S. Minister to Great Britain,
Robert C. Schenck, when he introduced it to the members of
the court of Queen Victoria in the early 1870's. The
first book on Poker was a set of rules written by Schenck.
The original rank of hands from
European games was replaced, in descending order, by four
of a kind, full house, (three of a kind and a pair, three
of a kind, two pairs, one pair, and no pair (high card wins).
The flush and the straight were introduced later, ranking
above three of a kind, along with additional rounds of betting.
The two main forms of poker that
developed were Closed (Straight or Draw Poker), which involved
all five cards being dealt face down, and Open (Stud) Poker,
in which one or two cards are dealt face down (five or seven
card) and the rest dealt face up, one at a time in five card,
or the last card down in seven card. In Draw Poker,
after the first round of betting, each player can draw from
one to three cards to improve his hand.
Rank of Hands
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