The History of Poker Presents the origins and evolution the various centuries-old European betting and bluffing card games that eventually fused together to create American-style poker. The book starts with the evolution of playing cards, integrates the history of games like Brag and Pochen which in turn evolved in the French game of "Poke" played in the city of New Orleans in the early 1800's. The book, written in timeline fashion, then adds year-by-year the subtle changes and additions to the orginal game of 1820's Whiskey Poker until it becomes the poker of today that we all recognize. The book is full of interesting tidbits and trivia specifically designed to please the reader who wants something interesting in every paragraph. The casual reader, the historian and the trivia buff will all be excited to read about the famous historical figures involved in the early history of poker all the way up to President Barack Obama's surprise quote about poker.