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Poker
is the quintessential American card game,
just about as American as apple pie. It was
even played by our founding fathers, and another
form was played by Native Americans before
the arrival of the Europeans.
In the nineteenth century, every state and
territory west of the Mississippi River had
casinos. And most, if not all, offered poker.
Poker was played on the gambling riverboats
cruising the Mississippi in Mark Twain's day
(just as it is today).
In the late nineteenth century, poker was
played in plush casinos in New York and other
big eastern cities. When the New York City
casinos were shut down, the casinos moved
upstate to Saratoga Springs, where poker was
played in "Lake Houses," because
many of the casinos were located near a lake.
At the turn of the century, the famous gambler
Richard Canfield owned the most popular casino
in Saratoga Springs, called The Casino. Many
of the richest industrial giants of the time
played in high stakes poker games at this
location.
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