Later work has cast doubt on this connection, compelling though it appears to be. The third player and the dealer then act in the same way just as in poker, and when the stakes of all players are equal and no one raises any more the cards are turned up and the player holding the best hand wins the stakes.”

The second player, if he wishes to play, must cover the stakes, and can also raise. He may also “go” without looking at his cards – that is, in poker parlance, “straddle” – and says nadîd dîdam (not seeing, I have seen). If he does not wish to play, he says nadîdam, (I have not seen) and throws his cards. If he “goes”, he says dîdam (I have seen), and covers the stake or raises it. The first player then looks at his cards. There are four players, and each player gets five cards, dealt to the right. “The game of As is exactly like Poker, but without any flushes or sequences.

In 1895, for example, General Albert Houtum-Schindler had the following to say about the game of “As-Nas”: During much of its established history, most authorities assumed that the game of poker had an ancient and Persian origin.