Poker

There's nothing like a good game of poker over the weekend. Just roll out the poker table, prepare the essential poker supplies, such as poker chips and poker cards, invite a few friends over, and you are good to go! Yes, it’s really fun to play poker with friends. And this has been quite the trend for years and years now. If you think that this trend has been around for just a few years, well, you’re just about in for a surprise.

Before the trend went from physically playing poker to just using poker software to play the game, it all started way back in the 1800’s. There really are not that many definitive sources as to when exactly the game started. But it can safely be assumed that the trend started right around this century.

The typical poker player would probably tell you that the game originates from the good ol’ Mississippi riverboats way back then. People from down south of New Orleans would travel the rivers just to go up to Ohio and Mississippi. And they do this just to play the game of poker. Back then, there were just a few poker types being played. In fact, 3 card poker, paradise poker, and strip poker were not even played back then. The poker types being played back then include stud poker, the straight, draw poker, and of course, the Texas Holdem poker.

After these poker games played on riverboats, the trend moved to the game being played on trains. Yes, trains. Nothing beats the boredom of being on a train ride than playing poker. Passengers rolled out their poker chip cases and their poker chip sets, just to pass time during their travel back and forth.

Interestingly, but not quite unexpectedly, poker has also been played in other countries. Some of these countries include China, France, and Egypt. In fact, poker has been known to have been played in Egypt back in the 12th to the 13th century. This long a time period way back then, no one is really sure when the game started out in Egypt.

In France, on the other hand, more definitive results show that a game that is called “Poque” was played there back in the 1480’s. This game is quite close to Poker, since it involves bluffing and betting. And we all know that bluffing is an essential asset to the game. If you do not know how to bluff, then you just might not be cut out for poker. And betting, well, poker just would not be poker without that as well.

In China, the Emperor Mu-tsung is known to have been the first emperor to have played the game. This was around 900 AD. Not much is known as to how the game was played, not even the poker type. But it’s safe to say that China has also been influenced by the game.

Today, that trend has even reached the advent of Internet technology. There are online casino poker sites everywhere, and the more famous one here is Empire Poker. Empire Poker is actually a poker room that uses a certain software owned PartyGaming. By downloading this software onto your computer, you can now play online poker from the comfort of your own home. This is provided that you comply with the gambling laws of online poker and such.

So, whatever type of poker you fancy, there’s just no stopping this strong trend. You might as well get on the bandwagon, and enjoy the game that has been plaguing card players for centuries now.