Poker

Poker is the world’s most famous card game; it is played in almost every casino worldwide, and every online casino. It is a game of bluff, and the aim of the game is to create a winning hand from the many available.

The game of poker has many a story to tell, its first origins were believed to be in china in around 969AD there have been many references to the game throughout the years and the first documented evidence that we have of the game as we know it today, is in 1834 from an American, Jonathon H Green, he made references to "the cheating game" which was being played on steamboats up and down the Mississippi river. The game did vary slightly from the style we see today but it was based on the same rules.

An English actor then claimed that the famous game was played in new Orleans in 1829, with a deck of 20 cards, and the aim of the game was for each player to bet on who had the most valuable hand. There are several references to poker throughout the early years but the real boom in the popularity of poker happened in the 1970’s. It was the 1970’s that saw the opening of World poker series tournament, which drew thousands. The media played a big part in the popularity of poker, there were weekly shot of the crew of the starship enterprise playing poker on a weekly basis, and if captain Kirk could do it!

In 1998 the first online poker game was introduced by planet poker, and it was the first of its kind to deal real money chips online. In 1999 Late Night Poker was first aired on British television, which opened up a whole new audience to the traditional game.

The game of poker can be varied quite often, but the same basic rule always applies, there are three main variations of the game with are widely used and you will find one variation to be more popular than others in certain countries.

The most well known variation of the game is the community card hand, which is used in Texas Hold’em poker. This is where a series of 5 cards are laid on the table for all of the players to use; the two cards that are dealt to each player are also incorporated so each player has to choose 3 of the community cards to make a winning hand of five cards. The player with the most valuable hand wins the round.

The second variation of poker is known as Stud poker. The original stud poker dealt five cards to each player 2 face down, and 3 faces up on alternating rounds the player was then to make the best hand out of the cards that had been dealt. The most popular variation today of stud poker is the seven card stud where players are dealt 7 cards, three face down and four face up, however the aim of the game is the same to make the best hand possible of the 7 cards dealt.

In between the round of both Stud poker and community card poker bets are placed until the final round, draw poker is slightly different, in that each player is deal a full hand primarily, of 5 cards is the more common. Bets are then placed on the cards in hand, after the betting has finished players are able to discard unwanted cards in exchange for being dealt another card.
Poker is a fun game to play either for real money or just for enjoyment, and although as will all gambling games it is still a game of chance, it requires a little thought and cunning skill to become a winner, "the cheating game" as it was originally know was not very far from the truth.

Poker is played by many world over, but there are certain people who play poker as a profession, and the mathematical equations that can be achieved from the order of the cards is simply over whelming. The age bracket for poker is any Age, young an old all over the globe enjoy poker, and the world series proves this as the youngest player to ever win was a mere 24 years old, the oldest player was a gracious 80.

Even the most famous of people have been known to play a hand a poker. The most famous of all stories was Richard Nixon, who won $6000 during World War II he then used this to pay for his journey through congress. Groucho marks was also an avid player of poker, and his name originated from the grouch bag which he always carried, which is reported to have held all his poker money, hence the nickname "Groucho" marks.

John Montague, the "Earl of Sandwich" reportedly was so obsessed with the card game that he refused to leave the poker table to eat, he demanded that he be brought a slice of meat and slices of bread, hence the well known sandwich was born.

Poker always has and always will be favourite pass time for many, and the introduction of online poker has only added to its popularity, people are now able to play the famous game from the comfort of their own homes, and rather than before where the game was exclusive to the people who had cash to spare to play, usually the wealthy, it is now available to all, given that for a small wager you can still win big.

Poker has always had a certain charm, it has the ability to lure players from all walks of life, and it appeals to every ability, the over educated are able to analyse to their hearts content, whilst the less fortunate are able to wish and dream, with a chance of the dreams becoming a reality.

And as so aptly quoted by John Luckacs, in the "Poker and the American Character" in 1963, – "Poker is the game closest to the western conception of life, where life and thought are recognized as intimately combined, where free will prevails over philosophies of fate or of chance, where men are considered moral agents and where- at least in the short run – the important thing is not what happens but what people think happens."