Table Games Popularity in Europe: A Brief History of Table Games

Europe is a continent like no other, and it has a fascinating history when it comes to hobbies and cultural impact around the world, including table gaming and gambling, which has spread around the continent and beyond, with many of the most popular games having their roots in Europe.

Historians could study Europe’s relationship with games and still not necessarily get the most comprehensive answer about where things originated, as lots of games are hundreds of years old and don’t necessarily have a singular origin. People played a variety of games and gradually, they became more organized, and official rules may have been published for these games, plus a lot of them spread to different locations. 

Poker is a game that probably originated in Europe, it was at least influenced by the predecessor Poque, which is known to have been popular in France in the 17th century. There’s also a German version, Pochen, which is one of the first games to include a form of bluffing. English-speaking people eventually settled in Louisiana after the Louisiana Purchase, and they took the game with them, where it evolved into American varieties. Today, Texas Hold'em Poker is the most widely-played variety which shows the fact that Americans really embraced the game and made it their own by tweaking rules.

Poker’s combination of luck and skill is appealing to a lot of people who want to try to actually improve and get better at the game.

Queen Victoria played a surprising role in growing poker further still when she asked the US minister to the UK to provide an explanation of the rules, showing an interest in the game. You could say poker has been exported from Europe and imported back once the Americans had their influence on the game and the rules.

Backgammon

Some people trace the origins of Backgammon back as early as 5,000 years ago, and it has similarities to games that were played in Persia and Mesopotamia in ancient times. Backgammon as we know it popped up in around the 17th century, an evolution from a game called Irish, which was similar but quicker to play. Irish is still played today by some Backgammon fans.

Backgammon has been traced to the UK and as the British Empire grew to many corners of the globe, the game became really popular in a lot of different places including India and the Mediterranean countries. 

Influential writer Edmond Hoyle also played a crucial role in the game becoming popular, he was a writer who became known for publishing rulebooks and in “A Short Treatise on the Game of Back-Gammon in 1753” he described the game in a way that allowed people to get involved if they wanted to. 

Chess

Chess came from India originally (depending on which historian you listen to) and has been played for 1500 years at least – though a lot of people associate the game with Europe and Britain. There have been plenty of European champs including Lithuanian winners of the continental championship, and the game is also popular in the US.

Chess is particularly popular in Northern Europe and Baltic countries, as well as in the UK where a lot of people still play the game. Like table games now played at casinos, the game has undergone a significant evolution and instead of involving physical chess pieces now, there are many different examples of chess now being played online, something that people couldn’t have imagined hundreds of years ago. 

Chess is a game that involves a lot of skill and technique, and some games go on for many hours. One game even lasted for an incredible four days and 269 moves. People play chess to enhance their brain power and to try and become even better at skills like strategy and foresight, predicting the moves of their opponents.

We know Chess was popular as early as the 12th century in Europe, and the Lewis Chessmen were discovered in 1831, thought to have been carved in Scandinavia in the 1100s, they were found in Scotland and probably belonged to a traveling merchant on his way from Scandinavia to Ireland, and the characters include mythical warriors and a strong Norse influence.

Conclusion

Table games are entwined with European culture. More examples of games that have originated in Europe and played their part in the European table game scene include the French “Game of the Goose” which is a game of total luck, not unlike Shoots and Ladders, which even has forfeits including having to take a drink when landing on a certain spot. 

 

Italy also played a key role in table games, and games such as Baccarat can be traced to Italians playing them centuries ago, Lotto games were also thought to have come from Italy originally and continue to be played today in so many different countries all over the world.