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9 January 2008
The
History of Poker
Poker is by far the most popular game
in a casino both traditional and online. There are many reasons why this is
so. While no one is really sure of the origins of poker, it is quite similar to
the Persian game of As-nas. History has it that this game was taught by
Persian sailors to the then French settlers in New Orleans. With the
information available, it is not very clear how the game has evolved but some
of the features in previous games could be examined to understand the current
form of poker. While gambling was known to be a favorite pastime in the 1800s,
it is said to have spread to the Mississippi
and the west during the gold rush.
In recent history poker was played
with 20 cards and after it became popular it began to be played with the
complete English deck of 52. Various forms of poker like stud poker, straight
poker and draw poker emerged during the American Civil War. The wild-card came
into being in 1875 and 1900 saw the evolution of split-pot poker. Community
card poker evolved around 1925. From America, poker made its way to other
countries mainly through the American military.
As poker rose in fame, even the
English language came to be affected by it. We still use phrases like Ace in
the hole, ace up the sleeve, blue chip, calling someones bluff, poker
face, pass the buck and the list goes on. This only proves the popularity of
poker as a gambling pastime. While many of us use these terms in our regular
vocabulary, we do not realise that these are terms related to the game of
poker.
Pokers most famous historical
prominence came into being with the introduction of the World Series of Poker
in 1970. This made poker soar in popularity and the next important milestone in
pokers timeline was its introduction into online casinos around the turn of
the millennium. The introduction of poker in online casinos almost doubled the
popularity of poker not just by the charm of the game but also due to its
awesome reach to all corners of the world.
Poker is played in various ways but
the basic pattern is more or less the same everywhere. The method of dealing
the cards is a little different in traditional casinos, private games and
online casinos. However, the position of the cards depends on the kind of poker
being played.
The game of poker is based on
bluffing whether it is conventional play or being played in an online casino.
The more popular forms of poker are:
Draw poker: In this kind of poker, a player
gets five or more hidden cards. The player is allowed to replace one or more of
these cards a predetermined number of times.
Stud Poker: The players get one card
at a time. In this form of poker, some cards are shown to the other players. In
this form of poker, players cannot replace or discard any cards.
Community card poker: In this form
of poker, a number of cards are dealt face up and are shared by all players. After
which the players assimilate their dealt cards with the community
cards.
Texas
holdem: This is one of the most popular forms of poker played traditionally
and in online casinos. In this game, each player is dealt two or four individual cards. Texas Holdem,
technically can have a maximum of 22 players but it is normally played with between 2 and 10
people. In this game, the objective is to win pots.
Omaha holdem: Also, known as Omaha, this
is a community poker
game. Very similar to Texas holdem,
each player here is dealt
four cards. The objective is to make the best poker hand using only two of his
cards in addition to three of the five community cards available.
With so
many options of poker available in online casinos, poker is a game full of fun
and the winnings do not depend solely on luck.
Also see:
US
Online Casinos -
Online Casinos where USA players are accepted
Euro
Online Casinos -
Online Casinos where you can play in Euros currency
UK
Online Casinos -
Online Casinos where UK players can play in
UK £
British
Online Casinos -
The best in British online casinos for UK
residents.
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