扑克有很悠久的历史，被认为有超过十多个世纪的各种游戏演变而来的，涉及骨牌的组合和“虚张声势”欺骗对手的手段等。

　　一个流行的看法是，扑克是中国人发明的。最早的扑克的游戏是由公元969年之前中国的某一位皇帝和他的妃子一起发明的。

　　到第12至13世纪，埃及人已经知道使用扑克牌，而波斯在16世纪使用“Ganjifa”或“宝藏卡”等各种博彩游戏。一个Ganjifa往往包括精心制作的96根象牙或珍贵木材、薄片纸卡等。波斯人知道如何利用25张轮流下注和分层排名。

　　在17及18世纪，一个名为“Poque”的法国游戏和名为“Pochen”的德国游戏变得非常流行。在16世纪时，西班牙称之为“龙阁”，其中游戏开发涉及处理每个玩家的三张牌。而唬人是游戏中不可或缺的一部分。“龙阁”的历史需要回溯到公元1526年，它通常被称为“扑克的母亲”，因为它已经被证实了与现代扑克游戏版本有直接关系。

　　当法国殖民者抵达加拿大后，他们把加拿大的扑克游戏进口到自己国家。poque是法国全国人们最喜爱的纸牌游戏。

　　1834年，乔纳森在他的写作中的最早提到了扑克，他提到了扑克游戏中作弊规则。然后扑克作为一种“作弊的游戏“开始迅速取代流行的赌博游戏Monte和cardsharp，被广大的玩家所热衷，所喜爱。在乔纳森的著作中，“作弊游戏”是一个赌博的艺术的开始：扑克诞生。

　　在美国历史上的西部拓荒时期，可以发现几乎从东海岸到西海岸的每一个镇的轿车都用扑克来装裱，这在内战期间是极受欢迎的。

　　在短短的两个世纪中，扑克游戏一直没有衰落。特别是在美国南北战争期间上升到近一个世纪中最流行的游戏。

　　在内华达州运营博彩游戏，是一项重罪。但是，加州总检察长宣布绘制扑克技巧，因此根据反赌博法无法阻止博彩游戏的发展。但扑克游戏仍然被视为非法的，直至1931年内华达州才被视为合法化的赌博游戏。

　　德州扑克，又被命名为“凯迪拉克扑克”，是世界上发挥最频繁和最流行的的扑克游戏。

　　译文：

　　The History of Poker

　　The history of Poker is thought to have evolved over more than ten centuries from various games, all involving the basic principals of ranked card or domino combinations and the use of ‘bluffing’ to deceive opponents.

　　One popular belief is that a game similar to poker was first invented by the Chinese sometime before 969 A.D, when The Emperor Mu-tsung is reported to have played "domino cards" with his wife on new years eve.

　　Egyptians in the 12th & 13th centuries are known to have used a form of playing cards, and in 16th century Persia “Ganjifa” or “Treasure Cards” were used for a variety of betting games. A Ganjifa deck consisted of 96 elaborate cards, often made of paper thin slices of ivory or precious wood. The Persians played “As Nas” which utilized 25 cards, rounds of betting and hierarchical hand rankings.

　　A French game named “Poque” and a German game named “Pochen” became very popular in the 17 & 18th centuries, both developed from the 16th century Spanish game called “Primero” which involved three cards being dealt to each player. Bluffing, or betting high stakes whilst holding poor cards to deceive opponents, was an integral part of the game. Primero dates back to 1526 and is often referred to as “poker’s mother” as it is the first confirmed version of a game directly related to modern day poker.

　　French colonials imported the game to the new world when they arrived in Canada. Their beloved poque was the national card game of France and from the beginning of the 18th century, when a hardy group of French-Canadian settlers founded New Orleans, it spread from the state of Louisiana up the Mississippi river and then throughout the whole country.

　　In 1834, Jonathan H. Green made one of the earliest written references to poker when in his writing he mentions rules to the "cheating game," being played on Mississippi riverboats. The Cheating Game" quickly began to supplant the popular cardsharp game of 3-card monte on the gambling circuit. Gamers embraced the new game as it was perceived as a more challenging and 'honest' gamble than the notoriously rigged 3-card game. Green took more than a passing interest in the new game and took it upon himself to formally name and document the 'Cheating Game' in his book 'An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling': Poker was born.

　　During the Wild West period of United States history, a saloon with a Poker table could be found in just about every town from coast to coast. It was extremely popular during the Civil War when the soldiers of both armies played. European influence of poker ended when the joker was introduced as a wild card in 1875.

　　In just over two centuries, poker has never looked back. Since its humble beginning on the banks of the Mississippi, the popularity of this widely played game has grown in leaps and bounds to evolve numerous variations and sub-variations.

　　There have been three games that have, in turn, dominated the modern poker scene:

　　5 Card Draw rose from relative obscurity during the American Civil War to the most popular game for almost a century.

　　Nevada made it a felony to run a betting game. However the Attorney General of California declared that draw poker was based upon skill and therefore the anti-gambling laws could not stop it. But stud poker was still deemed illegal as it was based solely on chance. With this decision, draw poker games developed and grew. This caused Nevada to reverse itself in 1931 and legalize casino gambling.

　　Texas Hold’em, christened the ‘cadillac of poker’ rose to promienence in the 1970's when it was featured as the title game in the World Series of Poker. Today, Texas Hold’em is indisputably the most frequently played and most popular poker game in the world, played in casinos and on home game tables the world over.

　　No Limit Texas Hold’em played at The World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour have been captivating American television audiences to the point that there are now made for TV events such as the National Heads Up Poker Championship and the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions being filmed especially for TV and shown in prime time.