Poker (card game)

Entry in progresss—BP
 
Wikipedia: Poker
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game’s rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules in different places. While the earliest known form of the game was played with just 20 cards, today it is usually played with a standard 52-card deck, although in countries where short packs are common, it may be played with 32, 40 or 48 cards.
(...)
History
While poker’s exact origin is the subject of debate, many game scholars point to the French game Poque and the Iranian game As-Nas as possible early inspirations.[3] For example, in the 1937 edition of Foster’s Complete Hoyle, R. F. Foster wrote that “the game of poker, as first played in the United States, five cards to each player from a twenty-card pack, is undoubtedly the Persian game of As-Nas.” However, in the 1990s the notion that poker is a direct derivative of As-Nas began to be challenged by gaming historians including David Parlett. What is certain, however, is that poker was popularized in the American South in the early 19th century, as gambling riverboats in the Mississippi River and around New Orleans during the 1830s helped spread the game. One early description of poker that was played on a steamboat in 1829 is recorded by the English actor, Joe Cowell. The game was played with twenty cards ranking from Ace (high) to Ten (low).