Page 32 - Southern California Gaming Guide • December 2021

Poker! The thoughts of staying in the action for that last card, finishing that flush, and the dreams of winning a huge pot or a seat on a famed tournament can make many hearts pound! To say that the popularity of poker has exploded would be
an understatement. It seems you can’t pick up a newspaper or magazine without reading
something about the “new” poker phenomenon that is taking the world by storm. Cable TV watchers can see a televised poker tournament just about every day of the week. With all the publicity that poker is receiving someone might get the impression that it is
a relatively new game, but nothing could be further from the truth.
The Buck Stops Here
The game of poker dates back to the early nineteenth century. Settlers in the French territory of New Orleans brought a game called poque with them.
Played with multiple decks of cards, the game
evolved into a single deck game and became known as poker. Around 1820,
the riverboats began traveling
the Mississippi River carrying
passengers and supplies to cities along the river. Poker was brought on board as a way to pass the time during the journey. With a lucrative market of new players to hustle,
it was only a matter of time before the con men and hustlers made their way to the boats in search of easy money. They became known as the “Riverboat Dandies”
who made their living playing poker.
PAGE 32
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
DECEMBER 2021
Poker
moved West with the settlers during the California Gold Rush in the 1850s. There it found a home in the saloons of the Wild
West. It has been said that Wyatt Earp and other gunslingers of the time were professional poker players who learned
toshootasawaytoprotect themselves while playing poker. Perhaps the best known of them all was Wild Bill Hickok