Hey Captain Python, here's some info I found in various place around the web concerning the origins of poker - you might find this useful - hope it will help!
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There are as many possible birthplaces for poker as there are variations of the game. The most popular belief is that it was invented by the Chinese around 900 A.D., possibly derived from the Chinese dominoes. On New Year's Eve, 969, the Emperor `Mu-tsung` is reported to have played "domino cards" with his wife.
Fragments of cards have been tentatively dated to 12th or 13th century in Egypt. Some propose that modern cards originated from the Indian card game of Ganjifa. We can see that narrowing down the exact origin becomes as difficult as pulling a royal straight flush. In any case, the idea of `card-playing` started in the East and made its way West into Europe, reportedly through the Mameluke Empire which ruled in the Middle East during the Middle Ages.
As Nas -- often referred to as the `great-great`-grandmother of American poker -- is Turkish in origin, and was played with a 20 card deck for four players, or a 25 card deck for five players. The playing card designs incorporated the equivalent of the `current-day` `ace-king`-`queen-jack`-ten, in five suits. The game rules were simple: five cards, face down, were dealt to each player. After checking their cards, each player either placed a wager or passed. Players then either raised their initial wagers or folded (dropped out of the hand). The best hand remaining won, and was determined as follows: four of a kind, full house (three of a kind plus a pair), three of a kind, two pair, and one pair. A good As Nas player also learned the art of bluffing, as in convincing other players that his hand was unbeatable (whether or not it was), and having them fold. His bluffing ability worked even better if he was the meanest player at the table with a sword.
Early European card makers took the idea of royalty and rank and differentiated the cards using people. The first card makers were Italian and Spanish and used men only on their court cards, but then French card makers substituted a queen for one of the male court cards.
Renaissance Italy had a game called Primero that was supposedly similar to poker - but little information survives today about the rules of this game.
Where did the word "poker" originate? Well, one theory concerns the French who settled New Orleans in the early 1700's. They played Poque, a card game involving bluffing and betting. This was stated to be the first use of a deck consisting of spades, diamonds, clubs, and hearts. Poque required three cards be dealt to each player. Wagering followed, then came 'showdown', or calling. When wagering, a player would say "I poque you for $$$", and a raise or call would be signified by "I poque you back for $$$". A frequent misdeal resulted when a player, angry at being outpoqued, responded with "not if I poque you with THIS" and introduced a blade into his fellow player. (this last bit may be apocryphal, however the French and the Turkish game seem to follow similar rules, right down to the swordplay at the end, LOL!)
Yet another possible explanation for the word poker, is that it came from a version of an underworld slang word, "poke", a term used by pickpockets. Cardsharps who used the `20-card` cheating game to relieve a sucker from his poke may have used that word among themselves, adding an r to make it "poker". The thought was that if the sharps used the word "poker" in front of their victims, those wise to the underworld slang would not surmise the change.
There are those who also believe that "poke" probably came from "`hocus-pocus`", a term widely used by magicians. The game of Poker later evolved to include 32 cards, and eventually the modern day deck of 52, not counting the two Jokers.
One of the earliest written references to Poker was made in 1834 by Jonathan H. Green. In his writing, Green mentions rules to what he called the "cheating game", which was then being played on Mississippi riverboats. He soon realized that he was the first such reference to the game, and since it was not mentioned in the current American Hoyle, he chose to call the game "poker".
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