This article is continued from Part 1

Poque was also a precursor of another pre-poker German card game, called "Pochspiel” or “Pochen,” which translates into "knock-play". This game resembles poker in a number of ways. First, the name is derived from the fact that at one stage of the game the player, in turn, declares the state of their hand by either passing or opening. Those who pass, signify it by saying, “Ich poche,” or “Ich poch,” “I bet.” This was sometimes shown by knocking on the table with one’s knuckles. Finally, this game also introduced the tactic of bluffing into the early stages of the betting world.

Any one of these earlier games, or a combination of them, could have been the genesis of contemporary poker. However, with regards to poker’s distinct North American heritage, it seems that the French were the most influential in the Colonial New World. In the early 17th century the French colonials arrived in Canada and they brought their poque card game with them. The game, however, did not become popular until the beginning of the early 18th century in New Orleans, when French-Canadian (Acadian) settlers began to populate that burgeoning city.

Poker spread up river on steam and river boats, being played extensively. By the 1830’s, poker had adopted its’ more contemporary name and spread north along the Mississippi and west along the Ohio with the expanding frontier; and, to the interior by wagon and train.

To help pass time during the Civil War, poque was played by many of the soldiers, both North and South. It was here that many variants of poker arose. Versions such as "Stud” (“stud-horse” poker) or "Draw”, which are predecessors to present day poker, emerged. In addition, “jack pots” evolved during this period. Originally, a player must have had Jacks or better - requiring both an ante and a pair of Jacks or better - to open a hand. It has been argued that the contemporary game of poker evolved from this time period in America history.

However, the game did not receive its first direct reference until 1843. The name “poker” was attributed to a gambler named Green. It’s reported that Jonathan H. Green learned cards when he was a young man in a Cincinnati Penitentiary. He had been imprisoned for petty crimes. After his release, he began a career of professional gambling up and down the Mississippi River, arguably the busiest gambling region of the period. It is here Green started his career as a professional card player and where he first came into contact with the many versions of poque. In his writing he refers to the many versions of poque as "the Cheating Game."

"The Cheating Game" quickly gained popularity over a former cardsharp game called the 3-card monte, primarily because the new game was perceived by the players to be more challenging and honest. Green discovered that there was no definition in the American Hoyle Book of Games; or, in any other documentation of the time. Jonathan H. Green then took it upon himself to officially name and document the “Cheating Game” in his autobiographical book as An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling(1843).

By the mid-1830’s there is evidence that the 20-card game was being challenged by the 52-card game, enabling more than four players to participate. Ensuring there were enough cards for the draw - a relative novelty - the 52-card game was changing from a game of luck (stud) to a game of skill (draw). It was in this permutation that poker first reached the pages of American “Hoyles.” The earliest mention is in the 1845 edition of Hoyle‘s Game by Henry F. Anners., referring to poker or Bluff, 20-deck Poker, and 20-deck Poke..

--- Note : Article To be Continued in Part 3

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