Poker is one of the most widely played games all over the world, both in online casino rooms and their land-based counterparts. From online poker rooms, to a traditional poker game with a group of your friends gathered around a table, poker is played in many different forms by people from all walks of life. But where did it come from and how did it become the most popular form of online gambling today?

Poker’s history is open to debate. Historians often disagree about its origins, but what they do know is that it has evolved over many centuries from a variety of different games. Most, if not all of these games involved numbered or ranked cards and tricking your opponents by what is now known as bluffing.

In the 12th Century, Egyptians used some of the first incarnations of playing cards as a form of entertainment. In the 16th Century, Persians used “Treasure Cards” to gamble. A Ganjifa deck, which consisted of 96 cards, was used. These decks were often made of paper-thin slices of ivory or wood. The Persians also played a game called “As Nas” which consisted of a deck of 25 cards and involved rounds of betting and hand rankings.

In the 16th century, the Spanish created a game called “Primero” in which each player was dealt three cards and bluffing was a big part of the game. From here the French created a game around the 17th Century, called “Poque” and the Germans created a game called “Pochen”. Bluffing was also a huge part of these casino games as well.

The French then brought the game to Canada and its popularity spread throughout all of North America. Jonathan H. Green wrote in 1834 about “The Cheating Game” that was being played on Mississippi river boats and was supplanting the popular cardsharp game of 3-card monte on the gambling circuit.

By the Wild West era almost every saloon had a poker table and cowboys would gather ‘round each night to play the new popular card game. From this, poker developed into the game it is today.

As of September, 2008:

1. Which poker player has made the most WPT final tables?

2. Which player has the most WPT wins?

3. Who has won the most money at World poker Tour Events?

Please scroll down for the answers.

1. Phil Ivey holds the record of final table appearances with eight.

2. Gus Hansen leads all players with three WPT titles.

3. Daniel Negreanu has won the most money in World Poker Tour events with $5,527,510 won, to date.

11. Who is the only poker player to win a WSOP (World Series of Poker) bracelet, a WPT (World Poker Tour) title and an EPT (European Poker Title) event?

12. In what year did the WSOP award its first million dollar cash prize?

 Scroll down for the answers.

10. Mansour Matloubi. (Hey, no one said they were all going to be easy)

11. Gavin Griffin is the only player to hold all three.

12. One million dollars was first awarded at the WSOP in 1991.

 7. In what year did the World Series of Poker (WSOP) add a Ladies World Championship to the poker menu? 

8. In 1983, this tournament director is credited with coming up the idea of the poker satellite. What was his name?

9. Who was the first WSOP main event winner to qualify through a satellite?

Scroll down for the answers.

7. 1982 was the year a Ladies World Championship was added.

8. Eric Drache was the tournament director.

9. Tom McEvoy won the main event in 1983 by entering through a satillite in the first year they were offered.

5. The World Series of Poker saw many changes in 1978. To start, it was the first year that the main event’s prize money was divided up, with the top five finishers all received a cash payout. It was also the first year a woman entered the WSOP. Who was she?

6. The year was 1979 and it was the first year that the World Series of Poker’s main event was won by an amateur player. What was his name?

Scroll down for the answers.

4. Seven-card stud, razz, deuce-to-seven draw, and a lower buy-in no limit hold’em event.

5. Barbara Freer became the first player to break the sex barrier, taking her place in what had been an all-male poker fraternity.

6. Hal Fowler was the first amateur champion.

This is the first poker trivia post in a series of posts dealing directly with World Series of Poker history.  (WSOP) Let’s start off with an easy one.

1. Who are the only three time winners of the World Series of Poker main event?

2.  The World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event has had four back to back champions. Who were they and what years did they win their back to back championships?

3. The WSOP inaugural world champion did not even win a poker tournament. He was elected “best all-around player” in a vote by his peers after several days of high-stakes card playing. So what year was the WSOP first played as a freeze-out?

Scroll down for the answers.

1. Johnny Moss won the World Series of Poker main event in 1970, 1971, & 1974. Stu Unger also won the event three times, winning in 1980, 1981 and 1997.

2. Along with Johnny Moss and Stu Unger, Doyle Brunson (1976 and 1977) and Johnny Chan (1987 and 1988) were also back to back champions.

3. 1971. In it’s second year, the WSOP was played as a freeze-out. Seven poker players posted a $5,000 entry fee and Johnny Moss won, retaining his title as world champion.

T 9   “Countdown” Because countdowns usually start at ten…nine…

T 4   “Broderick Crawford” This comes from the television series Highway Patrol where he used to say 10-4 all the time. Also “Over and Out” or “CB hand”

T 2   “Doyle Brunson” Because Doyle won the 1976 & 1977 WSOP main events holding T2 each time.

9 8   “Oldsmobile” The Oldsmobile 98 model that was bigger than their 88 model.

9 5   “Dolly Parton” Dolly Parton starred in the movie “9 to 5″.

8 6   “Maxwell Smart” Because he was Agent 86 in the television series Get Smart.

8 4   “Orwell” Because George Orwell was the author of the book “1984″.

7 T   “Bowling Hand” The 7-10 split in bowling is one of the toughest splits to pick up.

7 8   “RPM” One of the very first record formats was a disc that spun 78 revolutions per minute. 

7 6   “Union Oil” Named after the Union 76 gas stations or “Trombones” named after the song “76 Trombones” from the movie movie “Music Man”.

7 2    “The Hammer” or “Beer Hand” This is considered the worst starting hand in holdem. It’s called the beer hand for a few reasons. One of which is, only a person full of beers would play this hand. 

5 T  “Woolworth” Because Woolworth’s was known as a five and dimes store. 

5 7  “Heinz” Because the Heinz company 57 varieties of condiments. 

4 5   “Colt 45” or “Jesse James” Because Jesse James was thought to have been shot with a .45.

2 4  “Lumberman’s Hand” A common piece of lumber is a two by four.
I hope you got them all!

Poker hand nicknames for hands without face cards:

T 9  “__________”   

T 4  “_______  _______” or “______ _____ _____” or “____ _____”

T 2  “_________  ___________”

9 8  “___________” 

9 5  “_________ _______”

8 6  “_______ _________”

8 4  “_________”

7 T  “__________ _________”

7 8  “_____”

7 6  “__________ _____” or “__________”

7 2  “______  ______” or “_____ ______”

5 T  “___________”  

5 7  “_________” 

4 5  “______ ________” “________  _____”

2 4  “____________  __________” 

Look for the answers in my next post. Good luck!

Hands with a queen:

Q J  “Maverick” Taken from Maverick TV show theme song, “Livin’ on jacks and queens…”

Q 9  “Quinine” Because queen 9 sounds like Quinine.

Q 7  “Computer Hand” Calculations tell us that this is the average hand.

Q 3  “San Fransisco Busboy”   “Gay waiter”

Q 3 suited  “Posh Gay Waiter”

Hands with a jack:

J 7  Jack Daniel’s (Jack Old No. 7)

J 6  “Railroad Hand” (supposedly, repeating “Jacks and sixes” sounds like a train on its tracks)

J 5  “Motown” The “Jackson Five” released their albums through the record company ‘Motown’.

J 4  “Flat Tire” Answer to the question “What’s a jack for?”.

I hope you got them all! Look for my next post where I’ll cover poker hand nicknames for starting hands without a face card in them.

Hands with a queen:

Q J  “___________” 

Q 9  “___________” 

Q 7  “___________ __________” 

Q 3  “_____ __________ ________”  “______ ________”

Q 3 suited “_____ _____ _____”
 

Hands with a jack:

J 7  “______ ________”

J 6  “_________ _____”

J 5  “_______” or “__________ _________”

J 4  “______ ______”

Look for the answers in my next post. Good luck!