Many people believe that Poker came from China around 900 A.D, like many other gamble games. The Chinese played this variant of poker not with cards since they weren't invented yet, but with nicely painted dominoes. The Chinese Emperor Mu Tsung introduced the game 'domino cards' in 969 A.D. and this is believed to be the oldest form of poker. A game from Germany called 'Pochspiel' is also considered to be a forerunner of poker as we know it today. The rules and the name of the game have some similarities. Another theory claims that poker came from India, were the game supposedly comes from the Indian card game 'Ganjifa'. Ganjifa existed of 96 painted playing cards and they were used for several different betting games.
The most common believe is that Poker was born in France, from the French name 'Pogue'. This was a game that was played in the 15th century, with the card deck as we know it today, 52 cards and 4 suits. It was a card game that included bluffing and betting. The French colonials brought Pogue to Canada and after that to the United States in the beginning of the 17th century, but the game became a really popular in the beginning of the 18th century in New Orleans. During the American Civil War, many soldiers played the game to pass the time. From this first Pogue game, different versions evolved, like 'Stud' and 'Draw'. Pogue turned into 'Poker' in 1834 by a gambling fan called Jonathan H. Green. He learned how to play card games in prison. After his release he went to the Mississippi River to show off his new acquired skills and he became a professional card player. He discovered the different versions of the 'Pogue' game here. Green fell in love with this new game and since then he decided the game should be called Poker.
If you ask me personally, then I would say that I just love playing online poker games
