Editing Poker (section)

==History==
{{summarize|from|better=y|History of poker|date=April 2018}}
{{Main|History of poker}}
While poker's exact origin is the subject of debate, many game scholars point to the French game [[Poch|Poque]] and the Iranian game [[As-Nas]] as possible early inspirations.<ref>"History of Poker" in {{cite book|last=Roya|first=Will|date=2021|title=Card Night: Classic Games, Classic Decks, and the History Behind Them|publisher=Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers|page=203|isbn=9780762473519}}</ref> For example, in the 1937 edition of Foster's Complete [[Edmond Hoyle|Hoyle]], [[R. F. Foster (games)|R. F. Foster]] wrote that "the game of poker, as first played in the United States, five cards to each player from a twenty-card pack, is undoubtedly the Persian game of As-Nas." However, in the 1990s the notion that poker is a direct derivative of As-Nas began to be challenged by gaming historians including [[David Parlett]]. What is certain, however, is that poker was popularized in the American South in the early 19th century, as gambling riverboats in the Mississippi River and around New Orleans during the 1830s helped spread the game. One early description of poker was played on a steamboat in 1829 is recorded by the English actor, [[Joseph Cowell|Joe Cowell]]. The game was played with twenty cards ranking from Ace (high) to Ten (low).<ref>Cowell (1844), p. 94.</ref>

In contrast to this version of poker, [[seven-card stud]] only appeared in the middle of the 19th century, and was largely spread by the US military.<ref>"History of Poker" in {{cite book|last=Roya|first=Will|date=2021|title=Card Night: Classic Games, Classic Decks, and the History Behind Them|publisher=Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers|page=203|isbn=9780762473519}}</ref> It became a staple in many casinos following World War II and grew in popularity with the advent of the [[World Series of Poker]] in the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Series of Poker Retrospective: Horseshoe History |url=https://gaming.unlv.edu/WSOP/history.html |access-date=2019-01-13 |website=gaming.unlv.edu}}</ref>

[[Texas hold 'em]] and other community card games began to dominate the gambling scenes over the next couple of decades. The [[Poker on television|televising of poker]] was a particularly strong influence increasing the popularity of the game during the turn of the [[Third millennium|millennium]], resulting in the [[poker boom]] a few years later between 2003 and 2006. Today the game has grown to become an extremely popular pastime worldwide.