Poker first showed itself on the Mississippi river boats in 1829, played by travelers to pass the time. As the travelers sailed from placed to place, so did the game of Poker and this is how its popularity spread. Of course back then Poker was played a little differently: A Deck of only 20 cards was used and a maximum of 4 players used to bet on which hand held the most value.
Not too long after the game gained popularity, a deck of 52 cards was introduced and this is the same number of cards we play with today. As you know, there are many different variations of the game of Poker, such as: Texas Hold ’Em, Stud Poker, Strip Poker and so on. A lot of these variants were introduced to the game during the American Civil War.
It was only in 1970 when one of the biggest tournaments was introduced to the game – the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and this shined the light on many players who became famous for their impeccable skill and strategies that earned them numerous WSOP bracelets. Some of these players’ names may ring a bell: Amarillo Slim, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss and Phil Ivey.