The History of Poker

B2 – Upper Intermediate

“Poker face” is a term which means an impassive expression in order to hide one’s true feelings. The term dates back to the latter half of the 1800s as a strategy employed by poker players to make their opponents believe that they are holding different cards.

Let’s watch the video and know more about the history of poker.

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What is the meaning of “battle of nerves“? “From its earliest incarnations, poker has always been a battle of nerves.” Use it in your own sentence.
  2. What does “hand” mean in this context, “They would then wager on whether or not they had the best hand — either adding more money to the pot or folding and forfeiting their chance to win it. “ Use it in a sentence.
  3. Define the word “guile“. “This winning combination of guile, guts, and gambling caught on quickly.” Use it in a sentence and give two synonyms.

Discussion Questions:

  1. In your opinion, what makes poker a battle of nerves?
  2. What are your thoughts on poker?
  3. Do you play poker (or any other card game)? Why or why not?
  4. What tactics in poker can you apply in real-life?
  5. Where else can the ‘game theory’ be applied?
  6. Share your thoughts on this statement: “Poker is here to stay.“.
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2 replies on “The History of Poker”

Discussion Questions:
1. In your opinion, what makes poker a battle of nerves?
You bet money, usually an important amount of money and you don’t depend only on your cards but also in the other’s hands, and also you can bluff and so forth
2. What are your thoughts on poker?
I think is an interesting game, but I prefer the Spanish Card Games like Mus, etc… and I don’t like to bet money not at all if you are playing with family or friends.
3. Do you play poker (or any other card game)? Why or why not?
I don’t play poker because I don’t like to wager money, so I prefer to play other card game just for fun or to bet for a dinner o lunch with the people you are playing.
4. What tactics in poker can you apply in real-life?
It’s all about mathematics, if you are a pro you have to calculate all the possibilities, it’s the only way to win in the long term, you can have luck one or twice but all is about math.
5. Where else can the ‘game theory’ be applied?
Of course, in the work place, in marketing strategy, in therapy, almost in everything you don’t know for sure and you have some probabilities.
6. Share your thoughts on this statement: “Poker is here to stay.“.
It’s a very popular game, maybe because of the globalisation and the Hollywood movies even more popular than ever.

Great job answering your lesson’s discussion questions about poker.

Here is how this sentence can be improved:

It’s a very popular game, maybe because of the globalisation and the Hollywood movies even more popular than ever.

It’s a very popular game, maybe because of the globalisation and the how Hollywood movies have made it even more popular than ever.

Job well done. Keep it up!

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