Poker is perhaps the most recognized card game around. Its popularity cuts across cultures and national borders and it is played by millions of people around the world. Nobody can pinpoint the exact origins of this game, with some theories claiming that it sprang from the Persian game of as nas, while others believing that it shares its roots with similar games played in Europe such as primero and the French brelan. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, poker was being played in the United States, becoming a classic symbol of the westward bound pioneers and their cultural ethos.
Poker quickly worked its way into the American landscape and was played for decades in gambling halls, casinos and informally in private circles. By the 1970's, the game took off to even great heights with the introduction of strategy books and poker tournaments, with many players dreaming of winning poker competitions and striking it rich.
However, the single most important benchmark in the entire history of poker was certainly the introduction of internet gambling. With the technology in place, in no time at all, the game of poker made a seamless transition to the world of the Internet. Online poker became an overnight success and opened the doors of this exciting game to literally millions of players around the globe. Software companies tried to create the same realistic and fast paced action found around poker tables and players flocked to sites that offered the best games and tournaments around, in a bid to win at poker.
