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POKER
IN ITS PRESENT form is relatively new as games go. Its ultimate
ancestor was perhaps the Persian game As Nas, or perhaps an earlier
oriental game. A similar game of structures appeared in England
in the 18th century as Brag; in France as Commerce, an ancestor
of the Whiskey Poker of today. The German equivalent was Pochen
(to bluff), which the French called Poque and the Americans corrupted
to Poker. This name became so thoroughly identified with the game
that at first any game of structures was called a poker game: The
Spanish Coquina became not merely Rum, but "Poker Rum"
("rum," that is, "queer," poker).
At first poker was a rough, tough, ask-no-quarter-give-no-quarter
gamblers' game played by men in shirtsleeves. In the 20th century,
however, it has become a social game for both sexes, played in the
parlor for nominal stakes and sometimes for none at all. Originally
it was a slow, serious game; more lately it has been "pepped
up" by the introduction of new variants and by promiscuous
use of "wild cards." Nearly all poker games today are
of this "pepped-up" variety.
The laws and customs of poker have not kept up with the changing
times. When R. F. Foster drafted a code of poker laws in the 1890s,
his object was to prevent cheating, which was then prevalent. The
code of ethics was amoral; there was no ban on lying or trickery
in almost any form. In almost no case did a violation call for a
penalty.
Such laws and ethics are not compatible with the drawing-room atmosphere
of present-day poker, but it has proved difficult for would-be lawmakers
to break through the old traditions or to standardize laws which
are traditionally subject to an unlimited number of "house
rules" established by any club or host who has his own ideas
of propriety. Yet it was just such a task that was eventually accomplished
in the standardization of the Bridge laws. In many cases the old
poker customs are inequitable or unjust, and sensible players will
continue to improvise improvements on the laws until they are given
a code they can adopt without outrage to their sense of equity and
justice.
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