Strip Poker History

It is said that prostitution is the oldest profession in the world. Poker as we know it, on the other hand, is relatively new. It has been said that poker originated in New Orleans around the 1830s. There is a good chance that strip poker started at about the same time as regular poker. This is partially true because poker was played in and around bars and brothels where gambling, drinking and womanizing all took place. Poker became very popular in the US in the mid 1830's. It spread from the Mississipi River and Ohio River to other parts of the country through the railroad and other means. Once the Civil War started poker was no longer just a game for steamboats. During the war both stud poker and draw poker were popular.

Most people think of strip poker as a sexual game but there may have been variations of it in the past that were not sexual. For example, in wild west movies a man owns the boots of another man if he kills him in a dispute. There was a time when boots were very valuable. If a man was losing all his money in poker then boots could be counted on as extra bankroll. Also, some watches are very valuable and can be used to sweeted the pot. There have been plenty of poker games that were not full on strip poker but where boots or watches were included as part of the pot. Even though these games are not consisdered strip poker they do involve elements of strip poker.