Poker Poker Everywhere

Just how many poker games are there? I’ve been able to identify at least 120 different games that claim to be poker in one form or another. Just to name a few, there is Chicago, Five-card draw, Five-card stud, Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Low ball, Seven-card stud, Whiskey poker and of course Strip poker. The major poker games we have today were developed on the riverboats of Middle America and in the saloons of the old west in the early 1800’s. Some scholars believe that Brag, a type of mini-poker game popular in the UK, is the true ancestor of poker. Others believe the game come from the French game of Poque. Regardless of where it originated, poker has become a billion-dollar-a-year industry and is considered by many to be the most popular game in the US.

All poker games can be divided into two major types: stud and draw. In stud, cards are distributed to each player, and no changing of cards is allowed. In draw poker, cards can be exchanged for new ones. There are only two ways to win at poker: one is to have the best hand and the only other way is to bluff other players into thinking you have the best hand, thereby encouraging them to drop out of the round and declaring you the winner.

In both types of games, you can play in one of three ways: high, low, or high-low split. When a game is played high, the highest-ranking hand wins the round or pot. When playing low, the lowest hand wins. Finally if the game is high-low, the pot is split evenly between the highest and lowest ranking hand.

(Next month: the ranking of hands and the odds of each one)