Poker has been around for more than a hundred years, but it's really only in the last 10 years that the game really saw a spike in popularity. So what's changed to influence this popularity and news where did the game come from to enjoy such popularity?

As the origins of the game of poker are somewhat murky, with links to the Persian game of As Nas as well as the French game of poque, it's known to have really started to gain ground in the early 19th century along the Mississippi River, with many different forms of the game being played on riverboats where gambling was a common past-time.

Throughout the American Civil War and continuing after, variations for example stud poker, wild cards, and community card poker were all introduced tot he game. In Las Vegas, regular tournaments were held within an attempt to draw players ready to play in high-stakes games, nevertheless they invariably failed to draw the crowds and money players who were desired, despite the upgrading of casinos to accommodate these players. Within the mid twentieth century poker tournaments, such as the World Series of Poker (WSOP), began in American casinos, finally drawing the type of player that they had desired. The game also started to show up regularly in popular culture, including television shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as in films like Rounders.

In the 21st century the game saw a tremendous spike in popularity for a range of reasons. The introduction of online poker allowed anybody to play the game from the comfort of their very own homes without having to put together a group to play or travel to a casino. Moreover, poker tournaments being televised, together with hold-card cameras, turned poker into something of a spectator sport, with the Texas Hold 'Em variety of the game benefiting in particular as it is becoming the most widely played version, especially at the WSOP.

With smartphones and tablets now being nearly ubiquitous, much more people are playing poker than ever before due to the supply of free apps to play anywhere or any time. Online poker players can even win seats at major tournaments basically, with Chris Moneymaker arguably being the most well-known due to his 2003 World Series of Poker championship win after winning an online tournament.

As technology continues to connect us it shall be interesting to determine how the game continues to grow and if it moves away from the casinos and tables and a lot more to keyboards and pixels.