THE WORLD'S #1 POKER MANUAL - Card Games

Poker Book, Bibliography
The first mention of draw poker appeared in the 1867 edition of Hoyles (Dick and Fitzgerald, New
York). Also, that edition was the first book to mention an ante, a straight (which beat two pair, but not
trips), and the straight flush (which beat four of a kind). The 1875 edition of Hoyles (Dick and
Fitzgerald, New York) mentioned jackpot poker and the joker used as a wild card.
The first printed poker rules in England were written by General Robert E. Schenck, the United States
minister to England. He introduced poker to the guests at a country house in Somersetshire. The hostess,
a prominent duchess, persuaded him to write down the rules. In 1872, the duchess privately printed those
rules for her court. The game caught Queen Victoria's fancy, and the popularity of poker spread through
Great Britain. Poker in England soon became known as "Schenck poker,"
In 1875, a description of poker appeared in Cavendish's Round Games of Cards (De La Rue & Co.).
After 1875, books about poker appeared regularly in America, England, and Continental Europe. Data
on all poker books (whose locations and dates of publication are known) published in the one hundred
years between 1875 and 1975 have been tabulated below.
Number
of Books
%
Country
Where Published
93 72.6 United States
22 17.2 England
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128
8 6.2 France
2 1.6 Italy
1 0.8 Germany
1 0.8 Holland
l 0.8 India
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100.0
http://www.neo-tech.com/poker/appendixb.html (2 of 15)9/17/2004 12:27:32 PM
(for 1875-1965)