Throughout the 1800s, in saloons across the West, you could find cowboys locked in tense standoffs.
But these weren't shootouts.
They were simply playing cards — for a mountain of chips worth their weight in gold.
Most men wore loaded pistols in case a player was caught cheating.
When they prepared to make their bets, however, these cowboys weren't focused on their holsters or their cards, but rather on their opponent's face.
Because not even a bullet could protect them from a well-executed bluff.
From its earliest incarnations, poker has always been a battle of nerves.
The game first emerged around 1800 in the melting pot of New Orleans.
At this time, two games ruled the card tables: French poque played with a 20-card deck, and English Brag which used 52 cards.
Both these games saw players being dealt five cards from a four-suit deck, and then trying to make the best hand possible according to a simple hierarchy.
