Brelan Hints Broadly at the Origins of Poker

Poker has been one of the most popular casino games for many years. In fact it seems as if it has been around forever. There is still much speculation about the origins of poker.

The basic game of poker that we play today closely resembles the Old Persian game of As Nas. Some people believe that it was the Persian sailors who taught the game to the French settlers in New Orleans. It has been suggested that the name poker could be a derivative of the French poque, which in turn is descended from the German Pochen, meaning to knock. The ancestry of poker could also incorporate the old games of Primero and Brelan. An English game called Bragg was definitely descended from the French Brelan, and that is the origin of the popular concept of bluffing.

Brelan Mentioned in 1763

In a 1763 edition of a French novel, the game of Brelan takes a centre role, so we know that Brelan was definitely a form of gambling game very popular in France from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. It was sometimes called Breland, and the name and rules did vary slightly over time. Brelan was a card game with rapidly escalating bets, and is similar to the game of Bouillotte, but it is not played any more.

The game of Bouillotte, which was introduced and flourished during the years of the French Revolution, was also considered to have been derived from Brelan. Most experts agree that all these earlier card games played an important part in the development of the modern poker. The most ancient European ancestor of poker that can be found is the very old French game of Gilet.

How to play Brelan

Brelan is played by three, four or five players, with  a pack of 24, 28, 32 or 36 cards, each player receiving three cards, and a fourth card from the stock is turned face up. The best hand a player could get was a brelan carre, or four of a kind. The hand had to be made up with the aid of the turned up card on the table, like three nines in your hand and a turned up nine ion the table.. A simple brelan or prial, which is three of a kind, came next. If more than one player has a brelan, the highest wins, the cards ranking in descending order A, K, Q, 9 and 8.

Winning Brelan Hands

When no one had three of a kind, the winning hand was the hand with the highest card of the suit of which post points were in play. A Brelan favori is a pair of royal cards, composed of cards which are in the hand plus the turned up card on the table.

In Brelan Cave, the game is limited to a certain number of rounds, unlike bouillotte which lasts as long as there are players in the game.

In our modern era, with all the advantages of our amazing technology, we have online casinos, Microgaming, and the World series of poker. There are also exciting poker tournaments, which can be played online by players from all over the world.