Since its invention, poker has rapidly become one of the favorite gambling past times for many Americans, due to the ease with which it can be played. There is perhaps no other game of chance for which so many different variations have been created- there are literally hundreds of versions of poker.
Poker is intrinsically caught up in the history of America and American expansions. It is thought to have originated in New Orleans, where players would use a 20 card deck and bet on whose hand was the most valuable. As American settlement spread West up river systems, poker went along, including on riverboat passages up major waterways such as the Mississippi on river boats. Its expansion during this period has meant that it is an integral part of the popular telling of the history of the American West, and can be found in works of fiction and non-fiction, works of history and religion, documentaries and movies alike.
The full 52-card deck was introduced to the game after the expansion period, along with the idea of the flush. Variants of the game began to emerge during the American Civil War, and the game continued to be an integral part of the military, just as it...