The History of Poker

The origin of the word Poker is well debated. Most of the dictionaries and game historians say that it comes from an eighteenth-century French game, poque. However, there are other references to pochspiel, which is a German game. In pochspiel, there is an element of bluffing, where players would indicate whether they wanted to pass or open by rapping on the table and saying, "Ich Poche!" Some say it may even have derived come the Hindu word, pukka.

Yet another possible explanation for the word poker, is that it came from a version of an underworld slang word, "poke," a term used by pickpockets. Cardsharps who used the 20-card cheating game to relieve a sucker from his poke may have used that word among themselves, adding an r to make it "poker." The thought was that if the sharps used the word "poker" in front of their victims, those wise to the underworld slang would not surmise the change.

There are those who also believe that "poke" probably came from "hocus-pocus", a term widely used by magicians. The game of Poker later evolved to include 32 cards, and eventually the modern day deck of 52, not counting the two Jokers.

The game of Poker has evolved through the years, through many backroom games to the present day casinos around the world. Its history is rich with famous places and characters. For example, during the Wild West period of United States history, a saloon with a Poker table could be found in just about every town from coast to coast.

Texas hold'em in popular culture
In 1998 in film 1998, the movie Rounders starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton gave moviegoers a romantic view of poker as a way of life. Texas Hold'em was the main game played during the movie and the no-limit variety was described as the "Cadillac of Poker". Texas hold 'em

Hold 'em as a spectator sport
Hold 'em first caught the public eye as a spectator sport in the United Kingdom with the Late Night Poker TV show in 1999. The popularity of the show led to Phil Hellmuth competing in season 3 of the program and helping to spread the idea of lipstick cameras to an American audience.

In 2003, hold 'em exploded in popularity as a spectator sport in the United States. This was due to several factors, including the introduction of lipstick cameras that allowed the television audience to see the players' hidden cards. ESPN's coverage of the WSOP featured the unexpected victory of Internet player Chris Moneymaker (his real name), an amateur player who gained admission to the tournament by winning a series of online tournaments. Two additional hold 'em series debuted in 2003, the World Poker Tour (abbreviated WPT) and Celebrity Poker Showdown". All three of these shows are still currently (as of 2005) in production and garner a large and loyal viewership.

With the ability to edit a tournament that may last days into just a few hours, ESPN's World Series of Poker focuses on showing how various star players fared in each event. Key hands from throughout the many days of each event are shown, and similar, highly edited coverage of final tables is also provided.

The World Poker Tour does not offer general coverage of the multi-day poker tournaments. Instead, WPT covers only the action at the final table of each event. With aggressive play and increasing blinds and antes, the important action from a single table can easily be edited into a two hour episode. Although the tournament fate of fewer stars are chronicled this way, it allows the drama to build more naturally toward the final heads up showdown.

Celebrity Poker Showdown coverage is a single table like World Poker Tour, however, the players are invited to participate instead of winning their way on. Because the players are much less skilled and aggressive, significant editing is often done to trim the action to fit the broadcast time.

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