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HISTORY
Poker is America's best known and most popular
card game, played both at home and in the casino. While its origins
are unknown, it is likely that poker is a direct descendant from
the Persian game of Ās Nas. The first direct reference to the game
of poker shows its origins in New Orleans around 1830.
It became exceedingly popular in America in the mid 1830's, spreading
from the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to the east via the railroad.
Unlike
other casino card games, poker is a game in which players
play against each other and not against the house. Poker
has many variations, although the rules of play and strategy
differ, the hierarchy of winning hands remains the same.
When playing poker in a casino, the games, the limits and
the amount of rake (house commission) should
be clearly posted in the poker area.
GAME
PLAY
Most poker games are played with a standard 52-card deck. The cards
are ranked according to the value of the number on the card or
the value of the face. The ranking, from highest to lowest, goes
as such: ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Aside
from being the highest card in the deck, an ace can also be used
as the lowest to complete a low straight; A, 2, 3, 4, 5. In some
games, one or more cards are declared wild, meaning
that they can be used in place of any other card in the deck. As
well as numbers and faces there are 4 different types of suits
which are used to determine the value of a poker hand. These are:
spades, clubs, diamonds, hearts. Beyond determining that five cards
of the same suit comprise a flush, suits have no further ranking.
Poker
hands are valued based on their five card ranking. These
rankings are detailed below, 1 being the highest rank:
| Rank |
Hand
Name |
Description |
|
1
|
Royal
Flush |
A,
K, Q, J, 10 all of same suit |
|
2
|
Straight
Flush |
Five
cards of the same suit in sequence |
|
3
|
Four
of a Kind |
Four
cards of the same rank |
|
4
|
Full
House |
3
of a Kind and a Pair |
|
5
|
Flush |
Five
cards of the same suit |
|
6
|
Straight |
Five
cards in sequence |
|
7
|
3
of a Kind |
Three
cards of the same rank |
|
8
|
2
Pair |
Two
cards of one rank, plus two of another |
|
9
|
Pair |
Two
cards of the same rank |
If
two hands are tied in rank, the following rules apply:
| • |
If
two players both have straight flushes, flushes, or straights,
the highest card that is part of the hand determines the
winning hand. If the highest card still results in a tie,
then the next highest card will determine the winner. |
| • |
If
both players have a full house, then the highest three of
a kind will determine the winner. |
| • |
If
both players have three of a kind, the highest ranking three
of a kind will be determined the winner. |
| • |
The
highest ranking pair in the hand will decide two hands with
two pair. If this still results in a tie, then the remaining
pairs will be compared and the highest ranking pair will
then determine the winner. |
| • |
If
both players have a single pair then the highest ranking
pair will win. If this is also a tie, then the next highest
ranking single card will determine the winner. If this still
results in a tie, then the next highest single ranking card
will determine the winner. |
| • |
Two
hands with no pairs, flushes, or straights are compared and
the card with the highest-ranking single card will be determined
the winner. If this still yields no winner, then the next
highest card will be determined the winner. |
The
objective of poker is to win the pot, which
is the money that accumulates as players who remain in the
game keep raising their bets. Unless a game of high/low poker
is being played, the player with the highest hand at the
end of the game wins the pot. There are two ways to win,
by holding the highest hand in the game, or by making your
opponents think you've got the highest hand-in which everyone
else folds leaving you to win the pot.
Poker
games start with a shuffle and cut of the deck and then the
players ante before the dealer deals a card.
To ante, each player is required to put a small amount of
money, usually a percentage of the minimum bet, into the
pot. Games are played with colored poker chips that correspond
to different denominations of money. The dealer is responsible
for dealing each round.
Strict
rules govern the betting order, which also varies with the
type of poker game played. The betting order is important
because the player who bets first has the disadvantage of
providing other players with information about their hand
before receiving any information about any other player's
hand. The player who bets last has the advantage of seeing
how everyone else bets before deciding whether or not to
play their hand. In most games the dealer deals clockwise,
starting with the player to the dealer's left.
PLAYING
OPTIONS
There are different numbers of betting rounds in different poker
games. During each round, betting moves clockwise around the table
and players can either check, call, raise, or fold.
When you check that means you want to stay in the game, but don't
want to bet. When you check, you forfeit the right to raise in
the current round unless "check and raise" is allowed in your game.
After someone makes the first bet, all other players can only call,
raise or fold.
When
you call, you match the most recent bet and
place the appropriate stack of chips in front of you for
the dealer to place in the pot. Another option is to raise the
amount of the bet by matching the previous bet and raising
the amount by an additional amount. After the bet has been
raised, all other players remaining in the pot must call
with the higher amount of chips, or fold. In many poker games,
the bet can be raised only three times in the same betting
round. When you don't think that your hand is good enough
to win and don't feel like bluffing, you can fold or
drop out of the hand. Depending upon the game, there might
be several rounds of betting, with a card or cards dealt
between the rounds.
When
two or more players remain in the game at the end of the
last round of betting, each of the players show their cards
in a showdown. The hand with the highest poker value wins
the pot. The house makes a profit by taking the rake,
a percentage of each pot. The rake percentage varies from
two to 10 percent, but in some cases there is a maximum dollar
amount or a flat fee.
TYPES
OF POKER
There are two different types of poker games: draw poker
and stud poker. In draw poker you can draw new
cards from the deck after the initial cards are dealt, your cards
are usually dealt face down, and you bet after receiving your initial
cards and after you draw new cards. In stud poker games, you play
with your initially dealt cards, some cards are face down and some
are face up, and you bet after each new face up card is dealt and
after the last face down card is dealt.
Both
of these types of games can involve either five cards or
seven, and can be played in one of two ways: high or high/low.
When a poker game is played high, the highest hand wins the
pot. When a poker game is played high/low, the pot is split
between the person with the highest hand and the person with
the lowest hand.
Something you don't understand? Search through our glossary of gambling terms.
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