Online poker exploded in 2004 when online poker tournaments became popular. Online poker began in 1998 with the first online poker room, Poker Planet, launching. In 1970, the first World Series of Poker tournament was held. Poque was brought to Canada by the French and spread to the US, where it became popular and could be found all over the Wild West. This game evolved and was played as Poque in France and Pochen in Germany. The game was played with playing cards and included betting and bluffing. The game nicknamed “poker’s mother” was played in 16th century Spain and was known as Primero. There have been other games in the past that are similar to poker, including the 16th-century Persian game Ganjifa, the 19th-century Persian game As Nas and the English game of Brag.
Still, it was not until the 15th century that a game in Germany known as Pochspiel combined hand ranking with betting and bluffing, similar to the concepts in poker. The Egyptians played betting games with cards as far back as the 12th and 13th centuries. There is debate over the origins of poker and how far back the game can be traced. KYC and FICA Verification at Online Casinos.