The sun., 1900-12-09
THE OREtr AMERICAN OAME DATES
OSLr FROH BETWEEN JsSg aND 1890.

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'n's ~ an age III "hl'h thc world is largely
S"s'' !" ''"''hs 'h'hHs '" 'heir souE'e
-" "' '., ,' 's''nS pursuit ou' nnless IN"
| ~ sun !" cN'Sehoe' IKE 'hat OF rlV"r'
' ny ui"eS are apou' eu"ai I" those at
/ y" oN" '"' "e'tic' " seefhs
-, -, ~, '''"'H w vi" e'Ioence IN con-
-" ~ az! euoJo'' '"a' as u a'cini-
I . ','i''cs ''sS'' anu We origin OF
,"' s,ol'o' se',hs 10 NOV" tnr'her BACKWARD
''' ' ms VI "'ns. aUu VI" 'ur'her oacA
s'oo u,o n''ie u''hou' u 'he soHiuoh OF
~ p''oh' noohS esNaFs et'ers ana
! -, ." N''no"' n"noet nave
'" "'""n v" u,' o''s'h OF chess' ont IN"
- N''" Na''N locke" IN IN" archiVeS
=, NV p"N' l"' s'tn' - 'rue OF the origin
" '"'uN rn',s We nave IN plenty snch a'
wv ""'""S "' 'hoS" 'afos IN the oihdngs or
! "',''"' p'"hS' specuI'uohS ne 70 inc ufn"
-" ''''''le' ~ '"e' ,n'r""'cuon Te nave
"''o' '"' '"n''uA''e eF'oehce "o nave none
| " "'"' '''' ''a, 'H'S "'r' SLOWLY
! u'''" ''",'' Wv k'''l" ol cHe's, o'hors that
| w Wv 'N'.''o" VI N'ls'' i'iul''uuai
| Tl"''N NiPi'S'u I" u" me ueFlI sranse
'" say '""t' Is ho' single recordeo TACT in
! n's'"rN "h''n "oWu enaple us 10 give tho
"''e o' ,i' origin or playing cards within
n'nuieo years muoh less the country from
""i'h 'heE came
| Nh"'e ''' IhahF uhsoiVed mysteries OF frst
p'eHhihes mere Is one nev"r-"ndnR source
o' as'oiiSh'n"ht 70 all who have given the
h'a''er 'heIr attention" that IL the origin of
| poker foker II an onshoot from very
| ancient family. all the members OF which
are well and widely known. The Italian
| game or prmsro seems n have been the
great i"roear OF the race one OF whose chill
oren turned IN In France under the name
| oi ohe'' In the time OF Charles TX. We find
| ihiS changed 10 breldn. word still used in
France To express three of kind In poker
| Then come boui'lo''s and drbiou which
seem 10 have crossed the Channel and de-
v"loped into the English games OF Drag and
oommerc'. or poker with three cards There
we're number OF notifications OF thesetcanles,
but they we're all PLAYED with three cards
Poker is played with five
For the past 25o year. we have had text
books in which all the popular sedentary
games are described These books are'now
| known by the generic name Of "Hoyles,"
although Hoyle never wrote any Of them
by searching through these works il Is a
comparatively casv matter to trace tho
development Of ono game from another
and we can get fair idea OF the games which
wore popular az any given time by the date
Of publication of the Hoyle describing them
Each new edition naturally embraced all
The newest games. just as our modern Hoyles
have put In bridge, -conauian." and hearts"
within the past ton years: and IL We find no
mention OF a game in A we.-eiited Hoyls
Of certain date, IT ia fair 70 assume that
it was either very new game or no, very
popular at that time
In library Of ?s3 books on card games
there appears no mention Of poker until
1880 Bohns famous handbook of games
which was supposed TO be The most COM
plete OF its kind. came out in 1859: but even
in the edition Of 1870 We flnd no mention
Of poker. although "brag" and commerce"
are fully described There il no mention
Of poker In any European book on card games
until within the last few years In the French
text books IL ia spoken Of as American Poker
In tho standard German HOyle. by Fried
rich Anton. one Of tile most complete books
Of its kind, there is no mention of poker as
late IA 1880 The earliest American Hoyle.
published by Henry Anners in ls..
claims 10 give n full description OF all tho
games then played on the cards IN Americn
but does not mention poker. The first de-
scrptlOn Of poker which appeared in prin,
seems TO have been In Tho Science Of Gam
bling" an expose published by Brady
in 1861. and poker is there spoken Of as IL
already wel-known and popular game.
especially among gamblers Four yaars
later wa find the game described In Dick
4 Fitzgerad's Hoyle first published in is,l
II 1oLd seem therefore that poker WA
unknown in isA and well known in 1850
This is period Of only sixtesn years. and
there must he some men now living who
played the game during that tims Will
not so,ns Of these men kindly stop forward
and give Ms the date and place Of their earliest
recollection Of tho game' Ifany one einvented
A., lot him tell us what snggested the change
from three cards to Ave n he learned IL,
lHt him tell Va from whom. If he read about
It. lot him give us the name and date Of tho
publication.
Was poker an importation or an American
idca' The only difference between three
card poker. or Commerce and tho nve-
card game. lies in the fact that with five
cards one can hold double corabipations
such "a three OF kind and n pair, or two
distinct pairs. in one hand This idea NAV
have bean imported from Persia, whore ths
d or hs lops, heon