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Although its origins are unknown, it is likely that poker is a direct descendant from the 16th century Persian card game of Ās Nas. This game was played with 25 cards with 5 different suits. The game was played in a similar fashion to modern 5 card stud and possessed similar poker hands rankings, such as three-of-a-kind. When Europeans began to play the game, they called it 'poque'(France) or 'pochen'(Germany).

While poker's origins may lie in Europe and Persia, it truly developed in the United States. Poker was first widely played in New Orleans in the early 1800's. Prior to the American Civil War, poker spread quickly from New Orleans to towns throughout the Western frontier. Poker's spread was the result of a general spread of gambling during the era. The West was comprised largely of speculators and travelers, both of whom are groups that enjoyed gambling. Poker initially was played with one round of betting. Players were dealt five cards face down and there was no draw of cards. Professional gamblers later modified the rules in order to enhance the profitability of the game for them. After 1850, wild cards and bluffing became common practices in the game. The draw was also added. The addition of the draw helped professionals because it introduced another round of betting (meaning another opportunity to cheat their opponents) as well as introducing more skill to the game.

Poker playing became increasingly popular as gambling shifted from the towns to the riverboats. While gambling was tolerated on the Southwestern frontier during the early 1800's, it came out of favor by the 1830's. The Western, frontier culture of these towns was steadily replaced by Southern culture, which was more averse to gambling. Western towns passed ordinances against gambling and many of them kicked out known gamblers. Since their job was no longer tolerated on land, professional gamblers took it to the many steamboats navigating the Mississippi River.

During the early gold rush period, poker was not popular at all in California. This was because gamblers preferred games with more fast paced action. As people became more settled in California and the gold rush ended, their desire for fast action games like faro diminished, and they had a renewed interest in slower games like poker.

One of the earliest written references to Poker was made in 1834 by Jonathan H. Green. In his writing, Green mentions rules to what he called the "cheating game," which was then being played on Mississippi riverboats. He soon realized that it was the first such reference to the game, and since it was not mentioned in the current American Hoyle, he chose to call the game "poker". The game he described was played with 20 cards, using only the aces, kings, queens, jacks and tens. Two to four people could play, and each was dealt five cards. By the time Green wrote about it, poker had become the number one "cheating game" on the Mississippi boats, receiving even more action than Three-Card Monte.

The history of poker in the United States from then on has a bit more consistency. After travelling by steamboat from New Orleans to the north up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, poker then spread via wagon and train. Modifications such as stud poker, the draw, and the straight became popular during the Civil War. The European influence of poker ended when the joker was introduced as a wild card in 1875.

In 1910, Nevada made it a felony to run a betting game. However, the Attorney General of California declared that draw poker was based upon skill and therefore the antigambling laws could not stop it. With this decision, draw poker games developed and grew.

In Britain, gaming laws which originated in the 16th Century are still in operation today and in 1938, the Lord Chief Justice declared poker to be a game of chance, and it was not legalized in clubs until the 1960's.