Games - Poker

	Games - Poker

Poker is a card game, the most popular of a class of games called vying games, in which players with fully or partially concealed cards make wagers into a central pot, which is awarded to the player or players with the best combination of cards or to the player who makes an uncalled bet. Poker can also refer to video poker which is a single-player game seen in casinos much like a slot machine, or to other games that use poker hand rankings.

Game play

While the game of poker is played in hundreds of variations, most follow the same basic pattern of play.

The right to deal each hand typically rotates among the players and is marked by a token called a "buck" or "button". In a casino a house dealer handles the cards for each hand, but a button (typically a white plastic disk) is rotated among the players to indicate a nominal dealer to determine the order of betting.

For each hand, one or more players are required to make forced bets to create an initial stake for which the players will contest. The dealer shuffles the cards, he or another player cuts, and the appropriate number of cards are dealt to the players one at a time. After this initial deal, the first of what may be several betting rounds begins. 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. More details can be found in the article on betting.

At any time during the first or subsequent betting rounds, if any player makes a bet, all other players are required to match it or to surrender their cards and forfeit their interest in the pot. If one player bets and no other player chooses to match the bet, the deal ends immediately, the bettor is awarded the pot, no cards are shown, and the next deal begins. This is what makes bluffing possible, and is a primary feature of the game that distinguishes it from other vying games and from other games that make use of poker hand rankings.

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. The player with the best hand according to the poker variant being played wins the pot.

Details about the order of play and hand rankings for the most common variants can be found in the articles on betting, hand rankings, and poker variants. Most popular poker variants can be loosely classified as draw poker, stud poker, or community card poker (a.k.a. "widow games"), miscellaneous poker games exist as well. The most commonly played games in these categories are five-card draw, seven-card stud, and Texas hold 'em, respectively; each being a common starting point for learning games of the type.

History

The history of poker is a matter of some debate. The name of the game likely descended from the French poque, which descended from the German pochen ('to knock'), but it is not clear whether the origins of poker itself lie with the games bearing those names. It closely resembles the Persian game of as nas, and may have been taught to French settlers in New Orleans by Persian sailors. It is commonly regarded as sharing ancestry with the Renaissance game of primero and the French brelan. The English game brag
(earlier bragg) clearly descended from brelan and incorporated bluffing (though the concept was known in other games by that time). It is quite possible that all of these earlier games influenced the development of poker as it exists now.

English actor Joseph Crowell reported that the game was played in New Orleans in 1829, with a deck of 20 cards, 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. As it spread up the Mississippi and West during the gold rush it is thought to have become a part of the frontier, pioneering ethos.

Soon after this spread, the full 52-card English deck was used, and the flush was introduced. During the American Civil War, many additions were made, including draw poker, stud poker (the five-card variant), and the straight. 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). Spread of the game to other countries, particularly in Asia, is often attributed to the U.S. military.

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Games - Poker

Game play

History

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