Did you ever wonder where this fun game came from? Most historians point towards Persia as to the origins of this game. The Persian card game, "As Nas" or just "Nas", that was very popular around the 1500's seems to be where modern poker got its start. Nas was played with twenty-five cards of five suits each.

The game of Nas had many of the same nuances of the poker game Five Card Stud. There is also a similar game that was played with colored pebbles in China around 900 A.D. but most scholars subscribe to poker beginning with Nas.

Although the origins of poker may be in Persia and Europe, the real strides in the development of poker can be credited to taking place in the United States. Around the early 1800's, poker or Poque' was played in New Orleans-which evolved as America's first gambling city. Poque' was similar to the game of draw poker today.

The increasing popularity of all gambling games fueled the fast spread of Poker across the Western Frontier before the Civil War. Many dishonest gamblers ran con businesses, taking advantage of pioneers. An interesting side note is that anyone that was caught running a con game with poker, was forced to wear a large necklace of big dice and cards to identify them as persons who were dishonest gamblers.

In the present, poker comes in many different forms both online and off. Five Card Stud have given way in popularity to games such as Texas Hold 'Em. Although online poker is fun, it will never take the place of holding the cards and chips in your hands. If you haven't experienced the fun of a poker game, get a deck of cards and a set of poker chips and invite a few friends over. That's all you need to get involved in this fun and historic game.