Poker Chips - Casino Style Chips

A good set of poker chips can make a good night great, and a great night legendary. Perhaps I'm giving poker chips a little too much power, but a solid set of chips is an integral part of any respectable poker game. The games that make up poker stretch back to well over 100 years ago in the United States. Mention the game poker and it will instantly conjure images of rowdy cowboys slinging booze and cards in an Old West saloon.

The only consensus historians have about poker is that its birth happened a long time ago. I thought historians were supposed to be a little more specific than, "It started a long, long time ago." Anyway, poker's present form is probably a mixture of many different old games. Next time you sit at your poker table playing cards with your close comrades, talking trash about winning the previous pot, see if anyone knows anything about the history of the game you're playing. Chances are they won't care, but it's a fun little experiment.

Poker Chips and the History of Poker

A man by the name of Jonathan H. Green made one of the first written references to poker in a journal entry dated back to 1834. Green referred to this game as the "cheating game" that, at the time, was being played on Mississippi riverboats. When Green realized his writing represented the first documented mention of this card game, he knew he had the privilege of giving the game its name. He lovingly named it "poker."

During the early 1800s, the game of choice was Three-Card Monte. The problem with Three-Card Monte was its attractiveness to cheaters. When poker came along, people felt like it was a more legitimate, more honorable game. Three-Card Monte soon gave way to poker tables and poker chips and the Mississippi River Boats started making a killing.

Where does the word "poker" come from? Why did Jonathan Green give this wonderful game this strange name? Game historians have debated this issue for quite some time. Some assert that it comes from the French game, Poque, popular during the 1700s. Others believe it comes from the German game Pochspiel, which contains an element of bluffing, a term poker players are very familiar with. Still others proclaim the word "poker" is derived from the Hindu word, "pukka."

Poker Chips Keep Their Old Flavor

The word "poke" was a slang term coined by pickpockets back in the 1800s. This is another possible explanation for the name poker. It seems that the origins of poker are as mysterious as the eyes of a seasoned poker player. Anyway, uneasy about putting their actual money on the table, gamblers began using symbols for their money known today as "poker chips."

A good set of poker chips will dictate the level of professionalism surrounding your poker game. Your friends and counterparts will appreciate the game more and respect its rules if you use a respectable set of chips. Believe it or not, great chips set the tone of the game; they represent the very game itself.

The next time you decide to have friends over for some beer and a amicable game of poker, give me a call and I'll come over and take your money. I have a stone face and steely eyes, a rock solid demeanor that will leave you and your comrades shivering in your seats begging to know what I'm holding in my steady hands. Save yourself some time and slide your poker chips over to my pile. Why delay the inevitable?