Online Poker: A glimpse of history Poker in the modern age Poker’s popularity in casinos seems to be withering across the USA. In 2007 Nevada’s casinos had 907 poker tables that were bringing in $168 million. In 2016 that number shrank to 661 tables and a revenue of $118 million. Poker isn’t exactly a big moneymaker for casinos, but as long as there is a demand for the game, casinos will supply. Pokers popularity plateaued in 2007, as a result of online poker’s popularity and the appearance of Chris moneymaker in the main event of the 2003 World Series of poker. Chris Moneymaker was able to revolutionize poker by becoming the first World Series poker champion after qualifying on an online poker site. He was able to claim the gold bracelet and $2.5 million. In 2006 the first hard hit to poker came with the passing of anti-gambling legislation by the Bush administration. Then came the notorious Black Friday, which in 2011 effectively halted the growth of online poker. Since the closure of the “big 3”, the poker market has been in a transition phase. With the online poker market still having some potential, a reported revenue of more than $1 billion in 2008, players can rest assured there will plenty of opportunities in the future to win big. Origins of poker Before the internet was even conceived, a game similar to poker, called primero was being played in 16th-century Spain. Researchers are unable to trace the origins of poker further than the 16th century. Some researchers believe the game can be traced back to the 10th-century Chinese empire, but this can’t be proven for sure. What we do know for a fact is that the game caught on in France in the 17th century. The French colonist brought the game Poque to their settlements in North America, and the game became a part of America from there. Poker was able to spread up the Mississippi River from New Orleans because of the riverboat crews who favored the game. The game became what it is today around the mid-1800s, when features like a 52 card deck, the draw and flush were introduced. History of Online poker Similar to the origins of the game poker, the exact date of the first Online poker or situs poker online terpopuler game is unknown, but many people believe the first game was played in 1994. The development of the internet’s first chat network called, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), allowed Todd Mummert and Grey Reynolds to create a program, which allowed users to play poker on the internet. The first programs were text-based and required some technical knowledge, but Mummert and Reynold’s program still attracted some familiar names like Chris Ferguson, a 6x’s World Series poker winner, and Perry Fried man. IRC poker laid the groundwork for the platform Kahnawake Gaming Commission and the forum Two+Two poker. Kahnawake Gaming Commission and Two+Two poker played a major role in helping to form the online poker world into what it is today.