American poker, as it was said, began in New Orleans and spread like a virus all over the country by the Mississippi riverboats, on which gambling was very popular (But it was still 20-card game until 1834 (or 1837), when 52-card game replaced it). During the Wild West period in the United States history you could find poker tables in every saloon. It's better to beat your opponent than to shoot him, isn't it?

In 1875 the joker appeared in the deck and the epoch of the European influence came to an end. Poker became totally American. The game continued to develop and there appeared those who wanted to control this development.

In 1909 Coran and Lyles (the Missouri assemblymen) tried to license poker players, who in their opinion were fooling incompetent people. These assemblymen even composed a bill and introduced it to the state legislature. By this time among the most popular poker games had been stud poker and draw poker. But in 1911 Harold Sigel Webb (California's attorney general) decided to prohibit stud poker because it was the game of luck, but not of skill. This caused the growth of draw poker, which was based upon skill (and that's why beyond the anti gambling laws).

Let's go further: running a betting game was a felony in Nevada, in 1910; casino gambling was legalized also in Nevada, in 1931. The fact speaks for itself... 1970 is considered to be the first year of the WSOP (World Series of Poker), but the idea appeared much earlier. In 1949 Benny Benion was asked to stage a high-stake poker marathon. He agreed. This marathon lasted 5 months in public view. Johnny Moss had won $2 Million in this marathon. And the only thing that his opponent Nick the Greek had said was: "Mr. Moss, I have to let you go". After that he went upstairs and fell asleep.

Maybe Binion had thought then that it was a very good idea, a very, very good idea. He remembered the public excitement, which he could see during all these 5 months. And after 20 years he decided to recreate it...

After 1970

He did it. And Johnny Moss won again. But this time he was not only the winner - he was the World Champion!

Due to Thomas "Amarillo Slim" Preston the World Series of Poker began to attract more and more people: after he had won in 1972, he went on the talk-show circuit. This year Binion was asked if it was possible to get up to 50 entrants. "It will eventually," - he said and smiled. But even Binion couldn't imagine such enormous growth of number of participants. Just compare: 7 in 1972 and 7 595 in 2002.

And it is only the WSOP. Add to it the entrants of the Shooting Star, the Star Classic, the Legends of Poker, the World Poker Finals, the L.A. Poker Classic and so on.

Now think about those who don't take part in them, but watch televised tournaments and play poker at home or in online-casinos.

Now many laws regulate poker. It's not a "cheating game"; it is a sporting event, which involves Big money, Big people and Big crowds.