A game of Texas hold 'em in progress. Texas hold 'em (also hold'em, holdem) is the most popular Poker game in the casinos and poker card rooms across North America and Europe "Hold 'em" is currently the most popular form of poker.

Poker is a popular type of card game in which players bet on the value of the card combination ("hand") in their possession, by placing a bet into a central pot. A card game is any Game using Playing cards either traditional or game-specific This article describes only the common terms rules and procedures of betting in poker In Poker, players construct hands of five cards according to predetermined rules which vary according to the precise variant of poker being played The pot in Poker refers to the sum of money that players wager during a single hand or game according to the betting rules of the variant being The winner is the one who holds the hand with the highest value according to an established hand rankings hierarchy, or otherwise the player who remains in the hand after all others have folded (the player who makes an un-called bet. In Poker, players construct hands of five cards according to predetermined rules which vary according to the precise variant of poker being played This article describes only the common terms rules and procedures of betting in poker This article describes only the common terms rules and procedures of betting in poker ).

Variations

Poker has many variations, all following a similar pattern of play. The card game of Poker has many variations, most of them created in the United States in the mid-1900s There are three main families of variants, largely grouped by the protocol of card-dealing and betting:

• Stud - Cards are dealt in a prearranged combination of face-down and face-up rounds or "streets", with a round of betting following each. Stud poker is any of a number of Poker variants in which each player receives a mix of face-down and face-up cards dealt in multiple betting rounds This is the oldest Poker family; 3 card and 5 card stud variants were popular as of the late 1700's. The most popular stud variant today, 7 card stud, deals two extra cards to each player from which they must make the best possible 5-card hand. Seven-card stud is a variant of Stud poker. Until the recent increase in popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was the most popular poker variant
• Draw - All cards are dealt face-down, the hand is dealt all at once, and at a given point during play of the hand, players are allowed to attempt to change their hand by discarding unwanted cards and being dealt new ones. This article refers to draw poker games Go here for poker terminology relating to drawing cards or drawing hands. 5 card draw is the most famous variation in this family. Five-card draw is a Poker variant and often the first variant learned by most players
• Community - A variation of Stud, players are dealt an incomplete hand of face-down cards, and then a number of face-up "community" cards are dealt to the center of the table, each of which can be used by one or more of the players to make a 5-card hand. Community card poker refers to any game of poker that uses community cards (also called "shared cards" or "window cards" which are cards dealt face Texas hold-em and Omaha are two well-known variants of the Community family. Texas hold 'em (also hold'em, holdem) is the most popular Poker game in the casinos and poker card rooms across North America and Europe Omaha hold 'em (or Omaha holdem or simply Omaha) is a Community card poker game similar to Texas hold 'em, where each player is dealt four cards

Other games that use poker hand rankings may likewise be referred to as "poker". Video poker is a single-player computer game that functions much like a slot machine. Video poker is a Casino game based on Five-card draw Poker. It is played on a computerized console similar in size to a Slot machine. A personal computer Game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a Video game played on a Personal computer, rather A slot machine ( American) fruit machine ( British) or poker machine ( Australian) is a Casino gambling machine with three

Another game with the "Poker" name, but with a vastly different mode of play, is called "Acey-Deucey" or "Red Dog" Poker. Red Dog, also known as Red Dog Poker or Yablon, is a Game of chance played with cards. This game is more similar to Blackjack in its layout and betting; each player bets against the house, and then is dealt two cards. Blackjack (also known as Twenty-one, Vingt-et-un (French for Twenty-one or Pontoon) is the most widely played casino banking For the player to win, the third card dealt (after an opportunity to raise the bet) must have a value in between the first two. Payout is based on the odds that this is possible, based on the difference in values of the first two cards.

Game play

In casual play, the right to deal a hand typically rotates among the players and is marked by a token called a 'dealer' button (or "buck"). A poker dealer distributes cards to players and manages the action at a Poker table "Pass the Buck" redirects here For the 1978 United States TV game show see Pass the Buck (game show. In a casino, a house dealer handles the cards for each hand, but the button (typically a white plastic disk) is rotated clockwise among the players to indicate a nominal dealer to determine the order of betting. A casino is in the modern sense of the word a facility that houses and accommodates certain types of Gambling activities A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper thin card or thin plastic figured with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing Card games

One or more players are usually required to make forced bets, usually either an ante or a blind bet (sometimes both). This article describes only the common terms rules and procedures of betting in poker The dealer shuffles the cards, cuts, and deals the appropriate number of cards to the players one at a time. Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of Playing cards to provide an element of chance in Card games Shuffling is often followed by a After a deck of cards is Shuffled by the dealer it is often given to a player other than the one who performed the shuffle for a procedure called a cut. Cards may be dealt either face-up or face-down, depending on the variant of poker being played. After the initial deal, the first of what may be several betting rounds begins. This article describes only the common terms rules and procedures of betting in poker Between rounds, the players' hands develop in some way, often by being dealt additional cards or replacing cards previously dealt. At the end of each round, all bets are gathered into the central pot.

At any time during a betting round, if one player bets and no opponents choose to "call" (match) the bet and instead "fold", the hand ends immediately, the bettor is awarded the pot, no cards are required to be shown, and the next hand begins. This is what makes bluffing possible. In the card game of Poker, to bluff is to bet or raise with an inferior hand Bluffing is a primary feature of poker, one that distinguishes it from other vying games and from other games that make use of poker hand rankings. In Poker, players construct hands of five cards according to predetermined rules which vary according to the precise variant of poker being played

At the end of the last betting round, if more than one player remains, there is a showdown, in which the players reveal their previously hidden cards and evaluate their hands. In all Poker games if more than one player remains after the last betting round remaining players expose and compare their hands to determine the winner or winners The player with the best hand according to the poker variant being played wins the pot. A poker hand consists of five cards, but in some variants a player has more than five to choose from.

See betting (poker) for detailed rules regarding forced bets, betting actions, limits, stakes, and all-in situations. This article describes only the common terms rules and procedures of betting in poker See List of poker variants and poker hand rankings for order of play and other details for the most common poker variants. The card game of Poker has many variations, most of them created in the United States in the mid-1900s In Poker, players construct hands of five cards according to predetermined rules which vary according to the precise variant of poker being played

History

The history of poker is a matter of debate. A controversy or dispute is a commencement of a conflict between statements of accepted fact and a new or unaccepted proposal that disagrees with argues against One of the earliest known games to incorporate betting, hand rankings, and bluffing was the 15th century German game Pochspiel. Poker closely resembles the Persian game of as nas, though there is no specific description of as nas prior to 1890. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. ^[1][2] In the 1937 edition of Foster's Complete Hoyle, R. F. Foster declared: "the game of poker, as first played in the United States, five cards to each player from a twenty-card pack, is undoubtedly the Persian game of as nas. "^{[3] [4]}. By 1990s some gaming historians including David Parlett started to challenge the notion that poker is a direct derivative of As Nas. ^[5] There is evidence that a game called poque, a French game similar to poker, was played around the region where poker is said to have originated. The name of the game likely descended from the Irish Poca (Pron. Pokah) ('Pocket') or even the French poque, which descended from the German pochen ('to brag as a bluff' lit. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. 'to knock'^[6] ). Yet it is not clear whether the origins of poker itself lie with the games bearing those names. It is commonly regarded as sharing ancestry with the Renaissance game of primero and the French brelan. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere Primero was a popular 16th-century gambling Card game. Thought to have been invented in the late 15th century in Italy, it soon spread to most of western Europe and The English game brag (earlier bragg) clearly descended from brelan and incorporated bluffing (though the concept was known in other games by that time). England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Three card brag is a unique British Card game which is similar to Poker but varies in betting style and hand rankings ^[7] It is quite possible that all of these earlier games influenced the development of poker as it exists now.

Harry Truman's poker chips

English actor Joseph Crowell reported that the game was played in New Orleans in 1829, with a deck of 20 cards and four players betting on which player's hand was the most valuable. Jonathan H. Green's book, An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling (G. B. Zieber, Philadelphia, 1843), described the spread of the game from there to the rest of the country by Mississippi riverboats, on which gambling was a common pastime. Mississippi ( is a state located in the Deep South of the United States A riverboat is Ship designed for Inland navigation. These vessels are usually less sturdy than ships built for the open seas with limited navigational and A hobby is a spare-time Recreational pursuit Etymology A Hobby horse is a wooden or Wickerwork toy made to be As it spread north along the Mississippi River and to the West during the gold rush, it is thought to have become a part of the frontier pioneer ethos. The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to Ethos (ˈiːθɒs (grc ἦθος ἔθος plurals ethe (ἤθη ethea (ἤθεα is a Greek word originally meaning "accustomed

Soon after this spread, the full 52-card English deck was used, and the flush was introduced. In Poker, players construct hands of five cards according to predetermined rules which vary according to the precise variant of poker being played During the American Civil War, many additions were made, including draw poker, stud poker (the five-card variant), and the straight. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South This article refers to draw poker games Go here for poker terminology relating to drawing cards or drawing hands. Stud poker is any of a number of Poker variants in which each player receives a mix of face-down and face-up cards dealt in multiple betting rounds In Poker, players construct hands of five cards according to predetermined rules which vary according to the precise variant of poker being played Further American developments followed, such as the wild card (around 1875), lowball and split-pot poker (around 1900), and community card poker games (around 1925). Card games, particularly Poker games may contain one or more cards designated as wild. Some forms of Poker, often called lowball, sometimes called low poker, reward poor poker hands (in the traditional sense In traditional Poker games the player with the best traditional hand wins the whole pot. Community card poker refers to any game of poker that uses community cards (also called "shared cards" or "window cards" which are cards dealt face The spread of the game to other countries, particularly in Asia, is often attributed to the U.S. military. The United States Armed Forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States

The game and jargon of poker have become important parts of American culture and English culture. Such phrases and clichés as ace in the hole, ace up one's sleeve, beats me, blue chip, call one's bluff, cash in, high roller, pass the buck, poker face, stack up, up the ante, when the chips are down, wild card, and others are used in everyday conversation, even by those unaware of their origins at the poker table. A cliché (from French, klɪ'ʃe or cliche is a phrase expression or idea that has been overused to the point of losing its intended force "Pass the Buck" redirects here For the 1978 United States TV game show see Pass the Buck (game show. Card games, particularly Poker games may contain one or more cards designated as wild.

Poker Room at the Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New Jersey

Beginning in 1970 a series of developments lead to poker becoming far more popular than it was previously:

• Modern tournament play became popular in American casinos after the World Series of Poker began, in 1970. The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort is located at 1000 Boardwalk Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the bustling Casino area along the shore A poker tournament is a Tournament in which the winners are decided by playing Poker, usually a particular style of poker The United States of America —commonly referred to as the World Series of Poker (WSOP is the largest set of Poker tournaments in the world ^[8] Notable champions from these early WSOP tournaments include Johnny Moss, Amarillo Slim, Bobby Baldwin, Doyle Brunson, and Puggy Pearson. Johnny Moss ( May 14, 1907 &ndash December 16, 1995) was a long-time gambler and professional Poker player Thomas Austin Preston Jr (born December 31, 1928 in Johnson Arkansas) known as Amarillo Slim, is a professional gambler famous for Bobby Baldwin (born c 1950 is a professional Poker player and Casino executive Doyle F Brunson (born August 10, 1933) is an iconic American Poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years Walter Clyde Pearson ( January 29, 1929 in Tennessee &ndash April 12, 2006) was an American professional Poker
• Later in the 1970s, the first serious strategy books appeared, notably Super/System by Doyle Brunson (ISBN 1-58042-081-8) and The Book of Tells by Mike Caro (ISBN 0-89746-100-2), followed later by The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky (ISBN 1-880685-00-0). Super/System is one of the most famous and seminal books about how to play Poker. Doyle F Brunson (born August 10, 1933) is an iconic American Poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years Mike Caro (born May 16, 1944 in Joplin MO is a professional Poker player pioneer poker theorist and author of poker books David Sklansky (born 1947, in Teaneck New Jersey) is a professional Poker player and Author.
• In 1987, community card poker games were introduced in California, home of the largest poker casinos in the world. Community card poker refers to any game of poker that uses community cards (also called "shared cards" or "window cards" which are cards dealt face ^[9] These games proved far more exciting to players than the draw poker variants that were played up until that time. This article refers to draw poker games Go here for poker terminology relating to drawing cards or drawing hands.
• In the 1990s, poker and casino gambling spread across the United States, most notably to Atlantic City, New Jersey. ^[10]
• In 1998, the poker-themed film Rounders starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton was released. For the 1965 western comedy see The Rounders (1965 film. Rounders is a 1998 film about the underground world of Matthew Paige Damon (born October 8 1970 is an American Actor and Philanthropist. ^[11]
• In 1999, Late Night Poker debuted on British television, introducing poker for the first time to many Europeans. Late Night Poker is a British television show in which Poker players mostly professionals or strong amateurs compete in a short series of No-Limit ^[12]

Poker's popularity experienced an unprecedented spike at the beginning of the 21st century, largely because of the introduction of online poker and the invention of the hole-card camera, which turned the game into a spectator sport. Online poker is the game of Poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a dramatic increase in the number of poker players worldwide In Poker, a hole cam (or pocket cam is a Camera that displays a player's face-down cards (known as "hole cards" to television viewers A spectator sport is a Sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators or watchers at its matches Viewers could now follow the action and drama of the game, and broadcasts of poker tournaments such as the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour brought in huge audiences for cable and satellite TV distributors. A poker tournament is a Tournament in which the winners are decided by playing Poker, usually a particular style of poker The World Poker Tour (WPT is a series of international Poker tournaments featuring most of the world's professional players Satellite television is Television delivered by the means of Communications satellites as compared to conventional Terrestrial television and Cable Because of the increasing coverage of poker events, poker pros became more like celebrities, with poker fans all over the world entering into expensive tournaments for the chance to play with them. This increased camera exposure also brings a new dimension to the poker professional's game—the realization that their actions may be aired later on TV. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic

Major poker tournament fields have grown dramatically because of the growing popularity of online satellite-qualifier tournaments where the prize is an entry into a major tournament. The 2003 and 2004 WSOP champions, Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, respectively, won their seats to the main event by winning online satellites. Christopher Bryan Moneymaker (born November 21, 1975 in Atlanta Georgia) is an American Poker player who won the main event Gregory Raymer (born June 25, 1964 in Minot, North Dakota) is a professional Poker player

See also

Notes

External links

• Poker at the Open Directory Project
• Poker at the Yahoo! Directory