French Settlers in New Orleans invented the game of Poker in 1829, which involves bluffing your way to a win by fooling each player at the table. Originally called Poques, Poker has grown exponentially over the years, since 1998 when online poker was born. Online poker hands were first reported as $3-$6 Limit Hold’em hands.
Poker History
You may be surprised to learn that poker is one of the most lucrative events to bet on worldwide. Sports such as baseball, basketball and football are highly lucrative, but when compared to poker, those sports fell short, as the poker awards total over $44,2 million, with the WSOP Main Event offering a $1 million prize pool for the first time in 1993.
It was Antonia Esfandiari who won the largest poker prize. A record-breaking $18.3 million was his winnings at the 2012 WSOP Big One for One Drop, which he entered with a $1 million buy-in.
A few dark moments have also occurred in the poker industry. Several industry leaders in online poker had their domains seized by the Department of Justice on April 15th, 2011. Online poker was rocked by the sudden influx of large amounts of cash into players’ accounts. Millions of players were affected by Poker Black Friday, and some even got convicted.
There has also been an increase in televised poker games but once Twitch streamers started broadcasting the live poker matches, this brought the game into a modern event and has since increased in popularity.
In Folding
Online poker is played by over 100 million people worldwide, with over 60 million living in the United States. Since all of the historical moments in poker have occurred in the United States, it makes sense. With new and exciting variations being developed, it has been around for centuries and continues to grow in popularity.