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Poker in the 20th Century
The exact origins of poker are some what hazy and it is believed that the game of poker originated from an ancient Persian game called As Nas and a French game called Poque. It is widely believed that the French upon arriving in the colonial new world brought this game with them and a myriad of variations sprung from these roots. During the Civil war when cards were a popular pastime among soldiers, obvious precursors to moderrn poker games developed and had names such as 'stud' and 'draw'. It is believed that modern poker emerged during this transitional time in turn-of-the-century America.
Around 1834 a professional gambler who went by the name of Jonathan H.Green started documenting the many different gambling card games played along the Mississippi river and this is where poker was first officially recorded. From this point the game took off in a big way. Poker grew to include a wider range of variations and sub-variations but three games came to the fore front to dominate the gambling market.
Five card draw dominated the poker scene during the Civil war and was the most popular for almost a century. After this period, 7-card stud took over from five card draw as the most popular poker variant just before World War II and was widely played for around 40 years and adding to the popularity was a boom that came as a consequence of the thriving Nevada casino industry in the 1950s and 60s.
Texas Hold’em became the most widely played poker variant in the 1970's when it gradually took over the mixed hand game as the title game in the World Series of Poker. The exact origin to Texas Hold'em is not recorded but it is speculated that it was a variant played in Robstown, Texas and then came to Dallas around 1925.
Texas Hold 'em is undoubtedly the most widely played poker variation today, and as a consequence of this popularity and the progression of technology, players are able to improve their game because of the enormous array of educational tools that this technology offers them.
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