Primero

Primero

The Card Players (1508-1510) by Lucas van Leyden
Origin	Italy
Alternative names	Primiero
Family	Matching
Players	2-6
Skills required	Tactics & Strategy
Cards	40
Deck	Spanish
Play	Counter-Clockwise
Playing time	20 min.
Random chance	Medium
Related games
Primo visto, Poker

Primero (also called primus, prime, or primiera), is a 16th-century gambling card game of which the earliest reference dates back to 1526. It has been described as "poker's mother", as it is the first confirmed version of a game directly related to modern-day poker. Primero is closely related to the game of primo visto (a.k.a. prima-vista, and various other spellings), if not the same.

The gambling game with this name goes back to the 16th century, being known to Gerolamo Cardano as primiera, which he thought of as the noblest of all card games, to François Rabelais as prime, and to Shakespeare as primero.

It still seems uncertain whether the game of primero is of Spanish or Italian origin. Although Daines Barrington is of the opinion that it is of Spanish origin, a poem of Francesco Berni is the earliest known writing to mention the game; it affords proof that it was at least commonly played in Italy at the beginning of the 16th century. His work entitled Capitolo del Gioco della Primiera, published in Rome in 1526, and believed to be the earliest extant work describing a card game, contains some particulars on primero. According to David Parlett, the game is still very much played in central Europe and Spain with Italian-suited cards, under the name of goffo or bambara, remaining the major native vying game of Italy.

This old game of cards was called prime in France, primera in Spain, and primiera in Italy. All names derived from the Latin primarius, 'first'. In English literature, besides the occasional use of the foreign names, the game is designated primero (and also prima-vista, a probable variant), with the usual corruptions in spelling of the early days. primero is actually a Spanish word, meaning 'first' or 'chief'.

According to Stephen Skinner, primero and prima-vista are one and the same game. As for John Minshew, primero and prima-vista (Primum et primum visum, that is, first and first seen, because he that can show such an order of cards, wins the game), are two different games of cards.