The Origins of Online Poker
Although the game of poker has been played for nearly two centuries, the online version has only been in existence for about a decade. Online poker got its initial start in the mid-1990s when a group of early Internet users who loved poker began having chat discussions about the game at rec.gambling.poker (RPG). This was (and still is) a news/chat forum Internet site that inspired the current generation of online poker sites and chat rooms.
Some these original chatters who were well-versed in using the Internet then went on to development the Relay Chat poker server (IRC). The IRC enabled the players to have a live game online using play chips. Many of the early users included today’s well known poker celebrities such as Chris Ferguson, Greg Raymer, David Sklansky and Mike Caro who used the software to test different game strategies.
About three years after the launch on IRC, the first “real money” online poker room, Planet Poker, came into existence and began accepting deposits. The first hand online money poker game – a 3/6 Texas Hold ‘Em game — took place on January 1, 1998. At first, there was only one table, but by February the table was going 24 hours a day.
Playing poker online happens all around the world at many sites, and the credit goes to those original RPG gamers who launched the IRC.
