While poker's exact origin is the subject of debate, many
game scholars point to the French game Poque and the Persian game As-Nas as
possible early inspirations. For example, in the 1937 edition of Foster's
Complete Hoyle, R. F. Foster wrote that "the game of poker, as first
played in the United States, five cards to each player from a twenty-card pack,
is undoubtedly the Persian game of As-Nas." However, in the 1990s the
notion that poker is a direct derivative of As-Nas began to be challenged by
gaming historians including David Parlett. What is certain, however, is that
poker was popularised in the American South in the early 19th century, as
gambling riverboats in the Mississippi River and around New Orleans during the
1830s helped spread the game. One early description of poker played on a
steamboat in 1829 is recorded by the English actor, Joe Cowell. The game was played
with twenty cards ranking from Ace (high) to Ten (low).