All Hale The Stud

Before Hold’em took center stage on the Poker world forum, there was the Granddad of all Poker and it was Five Card Stud. Finding sites to play old fashion stud poker leaves slim pickings, but that’s no reason not to pay homage and give some respect where due.
Poker History and Origin 

Looking back at Poker’s origins and where exactly it might of started has been debated for decades by poker enthusiasts. Some can trace it as far back as the Persian’s with a similar betting and odds game called Nas. Others will tell you it was created in Germany around the 15th century again involving the betting and odds scheme with a game called Pochspiel. After that, we come to the Renaissance game called Primero; and then eventually we come to the English game called Brag. Brag directly incorporated bluffing into the game, as it’s main objective. We leave it up to you to decide who came up with the top poker we know today; however, its safe to say that all the above mentioned games probably played some part in it’s creation.

Although we can span the ages to bring you relevant information on the best poker games, or better yet, types of poker games; all we really need do is look to American history and the Old West. No one can deny that the American’s perfected poker and taught us how to really play poker. 
It began sometime in the early 18th century somewhere along the Great Mississippi River. Both straight poker and stud played with the 52 card standard deck, and the game itself spread through the southern states like wild fire. In general the Americans adopted poker as its own and ultimately gave birth to commercial gambling.
Fast Forward

1970’s: Poker began to rise in popularity especially because of the modernization of ‘Poker Tournaments’. This eventually led to the invention of the ‘World Series of Poker’. By the late 70’s, books were being published on super systems and strategies.
1980’s: By this point poker had become part of pop culture and made its entry into mainstream media. On weekends ‘the boy’s’ were meeting for a friendly game, accompanied by beer, pretzels and pizza. 

1990’s: Poker began to spread across American casinos like a flash of lightening. High rollers met in the back rooms of Vegas casinos dropping loads of cash on the table like it was going out of style. In Europe, British television had introduced the populace to ‘Late Night Poker’.
By the turn of the century, an explosion of online gambling and online poker changed the way we gamble forever. It also formed a new type of poker, which would revolutionize the way we perceive gambling. This different brand of poker was called Texas Hold’em and helped launched a new career path for the young and old a like – the ‘Professional Poker Player’. 

Taking a step back and looking at how popularized poker and online poker has become, it seems there is no stopping it. Now, its left up to the individual website to compete for top poker sites. The proof of its enormity is all around us; just stop in any gas station, small hobby shop, or large department store and see for your self all the Texas Hold’em kits for sale.

It’s a sure bet Poker, poker online and just plain old online gambling is here for the long haul.