Marin Voice: 'French kings' and presidents part of poker's history
Poker is the most popular game in the world, including players and viewers. It is played in private homes, card rooms, casinos, on the Internet, and almost anywhere players can find a space. When I went to sea, there were poker games that ran almost 24 hours throughout the voyages.
Several presidents have been avid poker players: FDR, Truman, LBJ, Eisenhower, Nixon and Obama, among others. It is a constant in the halls of government - members and legislators adjourning the game only to answer quorum calls to vote for anti-gambling legislation.
Stakes vary from friendly games where $10 is a big pot, to a record $20 million on a single hand. Poker differs from most games because, beside mathematical skills, it requires, duplicity, bravado, guile, psychology, and, for large stakes, steel nerves.
"Cowboys Full - The Story of Poker," by James McManus, will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about poker, and a horde of things you never imagined. He is a clever and entertaining writer. "Cowboys Full" is a full house with three kings. The irony of calling the French kings portrayed on the cards "cowboys" is a microcosm of the history of poker.
Gambling games began before history with marked animal bones that ultimately became dice. As card games evolved over time, a game called Poque was favored by the French. Four players received five cards each from a deck of 20 cards. Poque came to New Orleans with French settlers and Cajun immigrants. By 1814, it had evolved to a larger deck, more players and an Americanized pronunciation of the French word as "pokuh, or "poker."
The steamboats that plied the Mississippi River were, from their inception, a magnet for card players, and the notorious "riverboat gamblers."
These card sharps dressed elegantly, were always armed for obvious reasons, and pioneered cheating at cards, with cunning and lan. They played with stacked decks, substituted cold decks, used tiny mirrors, and had confederates skew the betting.
The best of them were brilliant "mechanics" who could deal any card at will, without detection. They also created ingenious ways to mark cards.
As the steamboats visited their ports of call, and passengers returned home, often poorer but wiser, poker's popularity soared.
At that time the favorite versions were draw poker and
stud poker.
The most significant change in poker came with "Texas Hold 'em," which materialized about 1968. Two hidden cards and five exposed cards create a dynamic in which aggression and betting skills are rewarded - even more so in the no limit games.
The game became telegenic when the transparent table was featured and television viewers could see the "hole" cards as they followed the betting. Now there is almost endless poker on cable, and star players are luminaries.
Internet poker is a multibillion dollar industry. Congress has tried to limit it, with little success. Some of the sites are like video games. The unreality of it probably induces excess betting because the losses don't have the same impact as watching your money or chips swept away.
President Obama, a fine poker player, should remember Kenny Rogers' song "The Gambler," when he ponders his Mideast adventures; "You've Got to Know When to Hold 'Em, When to Fold 'Em."
Doug Maloney is a San Rafael attorney who served more than three decades as Marin's county counsel. He contributes regularly to Marin Voice.
Several presidents have been avid poker players: FDR, Truman, LBJ, Eisenhower, Nixon and Obama, among others. It is a constant in the halls of government - members and legislators adjourning the game only to answer quorum calls to vote for anti-gambling legislation.
Stakes vary from friendly games where $10 is a big pot, to a record $20 million on a single hand. Poker differs from most games because, beside mathematical skills, it requires, duplicity, bravado, guile, psychology, and, for large stakes, steel nerves.
"Cowboys Full - The Story of Poker," by James McManus, will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about poker, and a horde of things you never imagined. He is a clever and entertaining writer. "Cowboys Full" is a full house with three kings. The irony of calling the French kings portrayed on the cards "cowboys" is a microcosm of the history of poker.
Gambling games began before history with marked animal bones that ultimately became dice. As card games evolved over time, a game called Poque was favored by the French. Four players received five cards each from a deck of 20 cards. Poque came to New Orleans with French settlers and Cajun immigrants. By 1814, it had evolved to a larger deck, more players and an Americanized pronunciation of the French word as "pokuh, or "poker."
The steamboats that plied the Mississippi River were, from their inception, a magnet for card players, and the notorious "riverboat gamblers."
These card sharps dressed elegantly, were always armed for obvious reasons, and pioneered cheating at cards, with cunning and lan. They played with stacked decks, substituted cold decks, used tiny mirrors, and had confederates skew the betting.
The best of them were brilliant "mechanics" who could deal any card at will, without detection. They also created ingenious ways to mark cards.
As the steamboats visited their ports of call, and passengers returned home, often poorer but wiser, poker's popularity soared.
At that time the favorite versions were draw poker and
stud poker.
The most significant change in poker came with "Texas Hold 'em," which materialized about 1968. Two hidden cards and five exposed cards create a dynamic in which aggression and betting skills are rewarded - even more so in the no limit games.
The game became telegenic when the transparent table was featured and television viewers could see the "hole" cards as they followed the betting. Now there is almost endless poker on cable, and star players are luminaries.
Internet poker is a multibillion dollar industry. Congress has tried to limit it, with little success. Some of the sites are like video games. The unreality of it probably induces excess betting because the losses don't have the same impact as watching your money or chips swept away.
President Obama, a fine poker player, should remember Kenny Rogers' song "The Gambler," when he ponders his Mideast adventures; "You've Got to Know When to Hold 'Em, When to Fold 'Em."
Doug Maloney is a San Rafael attorney who served more than three decades as Marin's county counsel. He contributes regularly to Marin Voice.