What language does the word poker originate from?
Finding out about the origins of poker is a bit like researching into genealogy. You have to work backwards, from the present (and the things we think we know) to the past (where the secrets really lie). We now think of Texas Holdem poker as an all American pastime. It’s where many of the best players and poker stars are, and where many of the big casinos are that poker is famous for being played at. And one of the country’s 50 states gives the name of its most popular variant of poker games – Texas Holdem. But the first records of a game called poker being played in what is now the United States is nowhere near Las Vegas, or one of the big casino cities we know today. In fact the first evidence we can find of a game like poker being played in the US is in New Orleans, in what was then the Territory of Louisiana. That’s the earliest evidence of poker being played, and the trail stops there. That doesn’t mean though that Poker is all-American. That’s because there was another game that was brought over to New Orleans by settlers from France, called poque. And that game was being played at the same time in the same place as the early hands of poker. Poque was similar to what we now know as poker – in how it is played, and also obviously in the name. It involves rounds of betting, community cards, and a show of cards at the end. So it seems that poker is, in fact, as American as Tarte Tatin, not apple pie!
The French, though, can’t claim all the credit with total certainty. There is no definitive link between modern poker games and poque. Just similarities. And to add to the mystery, there’s another country that has a pretty good claim to have had at least some influence. The German game of pochspeil, which at the time would have meant something like “bluff game”. The French game may even have derived from the German one, given how close the countries are to each other. So we can throw an Apple Strudel into the mix too!
We can never be a 100% certain where the name come from, but the French seem to have the best claim. Alongside the Statue of Liberty, and the federal constitution, poker is another American icon with a French origin.