Evening journal., 1904-09-28
THE GAME OF POKER
IT SEEMS TO HAVE ORIGINATED IN
NEW ORLEANS.

IL Apparently an Improvement on
the old Preach Game sTse Jeu du
Poruev or German "Pochenspiei."
All the evidence about poker which
has come to light points to its origin in
New Orleans. The question IS, Where
did New Orleans get It from, or is it an
improvement on some game known to
the population Of that city, who. it
must be remembered, were French and
used French terms in any games that
they played7
There is no French game played with
only twenty cards. as poker vas played
at New Orleans In 1882. butthere are
several FRENCH games in which all the
poker hands are to be found except four
Of kind. Ambigu. brelan and many
others will at once suggest themselves.
But all these French games are
played with three cards only In the
hand Of each player. Where could the
inventor OF poker have found a game
played with Eve cards in each hand
and the pack consisting OF twenty
cards onlyi
The standard pack OF cards in Eu-
rope from the earliest days has been
what is now called the piquet pack,
which IS the same as our American
euchre pack. thirty-two cards There is
only one country IN the world that
uses a pack limited to twenty cards,
and that Is Persia. There is only one
country IN the world where poker has
always been played with FIVE cards in
the hand OF each player. and that is
Persia. but the game is not called po-
ker. It is called as mas.
Those who are familiar with this an
cicnt Persian game unhesitatingly as
sert some Frenchman must have
brought It to New Orleans in its primi-
tive form, with the pack limited to
twenty cards and the hand OF each
player increased to Eve, The question
stiil remains, How did It change its
namef
The old Persian pack had no acer,
court cards and spots. like ours, but
each suit was made up OF pictures
which ranked Lion, king, lady, soldier
and dancing girl This pack was
called yarnk / as. varak / asands or
simply as. from the game as or asands.
which was played with It. This an
cient game was simply twenty card
poker, az Il was first played in Amer
ica at the beginning OF this century.
Butif poker was originally known as
asnnds how came IL to lose that nameg
It seemed 10 the writer, and also to
Mr.. Jtseei that the answer 70 this
question must be looked for In the Ian
guage Of the. people who brought the
game from Europe, II they did bring It.
II they brought It to New Orleans
from Persia. OF II some resident Of
that city was familiar with the Per
sian game and thought it an improve
ment on the French game. of ambigu
and brelan, the intfoduoers pas. prob
ably French and more familiar with
French games and French terms than
with Persian.
Curiously enough, one OF the Oldest
and most authoritative works on card
games was published In France and
ran through a great many editions.
This is the famous Academic Univer-
selle des Jeux; Chez Theodore Legras.
au Palais. Paris"
In the 1865 edition OF this work we
md the first description OF the game
OF hoe.
The game OF hoe continues to be de-
scribed until the edition Of 1902 with
no mention of any improvement or
change In its form. In 1913. however,
page 300, we find a description OF le
1eu du poque, which exactly agrees
with the game known TO all German
children as pochenspiel or pochen. The
Academic dcs Jeux" speaks Of poque
as descendant or offshoot from the
older game OF hoe
The peculiarity of poque Is that aft
er the cards are dealt and each player
has taken from the common pool the
counter for the rank OF the highest
cards held he is at liberty to bet upon
the various combinations or cards he
holds. triplets. pairs. etc. In the
French description Of the game we are
told that a player opened the betting
by saying. "Je poque dun Seton" OF
two chips. or as many as he pleased,
and that then the others could see him,
raise him or drop out in their turn.
In the German gaWe pochen as II Is
played today we find exactly the same
expressions still in use, Itch poche
ems" or as many chips as the player
cares TO venture. and the answer OF
the player entering the betting against
the opener is invariably. "Ich pochs
NIT" Both poque and pochen ar,
played with piquet pack, thirty-tw,
cards.
Now. II is very curious that in tn
English translation OF this "Academi
des Jeux" and in all the English dc
scriptions Of the game of poque we I'm
the players are instructed to say 4
English. Il poque for so much" an
the following players are to respond
II poque against you"
Show this word 'poque" TO any ord
nary English speaking person not al
quainted with French, and he woul
undoubtedly separate it into two sy
tables and call it po-que. In the Gel
man the word poche is already as nea
poker as the vowel sound viii admit.
What more natural than that res
dent Of New Orleans OF French brit
or extraction already familiar with tn
game OF poque and seeing asand
- played for the first time should use th
expressions "Je poque dun jeton," ere
and that the English or German speal