Growth in popularity of the game of poker has coincided with and aided the game's spreading across the country. It seems everywhere you look, people are playing or talking about poker, and it seems for now there's no stopping the unprecedented growth. Many states are becoming destinations for poker players of all skill levels, and among the several states of the upper Midwest offering poker to the game's fans is Wisconsin.

Many states across the country, including several in the Midwest, have experienced the same growth in gaming and poker that the rest of the United States has over the past decade or more. Some states offer casinos on native American reservations only; many others, including the subject of this edition, Michigan, have approved gaming in other parts of their states as well.

As we have seen in past articles, many of the northern states in the U.S. play host to various forms of poker all the way from the Great Lakes west to the Pacific, and among these states which has offered poker for several years is South Dakota.

California has had a rich history of gambling and poker from the first wave of people to come rushing into the state in search of gold after the discovery at Sutter's Mill in 1848. As the "49ers" moved into the state in their quest for gold, saloons and gambling followed right on their heels and never really left, despite all the attempts to stop poker and gaming elsewhere in the United States in the past 150 years.

The state of New Jersey, being one of the original colonies which formed the United States, has seen its share of history, and a large part of its history recently has been focused on Absecon Island, which is the site of the resort town of Atlantic City, one of the best-known cities in the United States. Merely the mention of Atlantic City, about 125 miles south of New York City and 60 miles southeast of Philadelphia, brings forth different images for different people.

Poker has come a long way in Arizona since the days of the Wild West, when five-card draw, stud and Faro were king of the casinos in historic towns such as Tombstone, Bisbee, Prescott and others that have long passed on into legend or been forgotten. For many years after poker was outlawed in Arizona, next-door neighbor Nevada was the only choice for legal poker games.