Based upon references in period literature it appears to be closely related to the game Primero with some later authorities claiming that the two games were in fact the same.
Evidence opposing this claim include the fact that the earliest known reference to the name primo visto was in 1591 (in Greene's "Notable Discovery of Coosnage"), more than 50 years after the name Primero was in common use. Slightly stronger evidence exists in the form of a list of card games in John Taylor's "Taylor's Motto" which lists both Primero and Primefisto, the same occurs in the list of card games in Richard Brome's "The new academy".