February 13th: Article #1

    Jack Kelly explained and answered many questions that I had about gambling in America, its move west, and the different influences that made gambling what it is today in his winter 2006 "American Heritage" article , Poker: the very American career of the card game you can learn in 10 minutes and work on for the rest of your life.  He examined the root of poker as well as how gambling came to America. 

    Kelly wrote about the spread of gambling through Europe and how different aspects of games from other countries and cultures influenced the development of modern day poker.  He than continued on poker as well as gambling in itself, and its introduction to America.  From there he discussed how through wars and government purchases of land through time, the gambling moved along with it. From the Mississippi riverboats during the Civil War to the open frontier, gambling spread like wild fire.

As it spread through America just as it had done in Europe centuries before, the different cultures and races added their "two cents" to the game, which in turn gives up what professional gambling is today in the west.