They were the kind of people who liked to drink and gamble.

The kinds of people hanging out in such locations are the kind of people who like to take risks. Small, often lawless, towns sprung up in the places you’d expect: In the real Old West, you’re looking at a frontier culture. The gambling in Deadwood on HBO was a major plot point. Casino gambling was common during the Wild West, too, and you’ll see plenty of that in western movies and TV shows, too. Poker is a recurring theme in many of them. Of course, movie westerns wouldn’t be complete without gambling. This was like the tables today, but instead of a button being passed around, they used a knife! The visible threat made it more difficult for players to collude, and the rotating dealer has stayed with the game ever since.Clint Eastwood once claimed that the United States was only responsible for 2 unique art forms: To solve this, they implemented a rotating dealer. The easiest way to cheat was to collude with the dealer. With big stakes, players wanted know that there was no funny business at the tables. That way, you could be sure that you’d get your rewards. To make sure that the player who made the bet wouldn’t turn tail and run if they lost, making off with what they owed, they had to remove the wheel nuts from their wagons and set them on the table. If you didn’t have chips when you were playing, you could just use “nuts”! “The nuts” now refers to having the best poker hand possible at the table, but back in the 1800s, “the nuts” were something that you used to bet.īack then, it was common for players to bet all of their belongings in a game. Needing a way to curb the cheaters, the early 1900s saw the rise of manufactured chips. Since many of these materials could be easily obtained, counterfeiters were quick to jump on this opportunity. Eventually, individual saloons began to craft their own unique chips out of ivory, bone, clay, and wood, lending a more official air to the game. Up until the late 1800s, the poker chips that we know of today did not exist! “Chips” were any small, valuable object that could be used as a bet during a game. Let’s take a look at some of the origins of modern game elements starting with everyone’s favorite: the poker chip.

Unsurprisingly, many came from the American Old West, in a time where cowboys and outlaws played with their guns out on the tables in a clear show of bravado.

Poker is a unique game, full of components and lingo specific to only it. We’re thankful for our Replay Poker volunteers!.Betting on Suited Connectors by JenGen7.An Interview with Replay’s Poker Operations Manager by JenGen7.

Old west poker table