The game of poker has long gained worldwide popularity and universal love. Poker has even acquired a sports status, thanks to which all kinds of tournament series are held almost every week, identifying the best poker players. The origin of this game is covered with various, often mutually exclusive legends, and many countries “fight” for the right to be his homeland. But only one thing is clear - poker, in its current form, is a collection of elements of a wide variety of games.

The history of poker.
Merisi da Caravaggio "Sharpshooters", 1596

The oldest is the Chinese version (around 900 AD). According to her, as a result of the evolution of the local dominoes, controversial fun appeared in the Celestial Empire. This legend is supported by most poker researchers, believing that this game originated in China along with the game based on dice cards.

There are also references to a game similar to poker dating back to 1526 - three cards were dealt on the hands, bets were announced in the game, and the combinations were pairs, three cards of the same rank and three suited cards - a flush. In Italy and Spain, this game was called "primero", and in France - "la prime
In 1700, two similar games appeared at once - the Indian "Teen Patti" and "Brag". It used a 52-card deck and had poker-like round-robin bets. Expressions such as "blinds", "pot", etc. have also been used.

Some believe that the origins of poker can be traced back to the old German game of "poker", which involved betting, passing and bluffing elements.
Another version says that poker originated from a Persian game called "as nas" - players gathered in five people and used a deck of 25 cards and 5 suits.

Another theory is based on the French game "poque" - the descendants of the Gauls who founded New Orleans played this game using a betting system and bluffing. It is believed that it was here that a deck consisting of four suits was first used - spades, diamonds, clubs and hearts.

Over time, a 32-card deck began to be used, and in the middle of the 19th century, the 52-card "French deck" took root in the United States, which began to be considered the standard. In the United States, especially in the Wild West, many varieties of poker have spread quite widely, and the next impetus to the growing popularity of poker was the outbreak of the Civil War, when this game became a favorite leisure of the soldiers.

Be that as it may, for the first time the name "poker" appeared in America. The population of the New World was entertained with "whiskey poker", "gin poker" and "rum poker". These "alcoholic" varieties of American saloon fun over time acquired the common name "Jin-rummy" or "Remik Jin", and the term "remix" began to be used as a collective name for a number of card games, which are based on the principle of recruitment and announcement combinations.