Poker, the game of luck and skill, right? The game of poker is nowadays one of the most popular gambling games in existence. No matter who you are, chances are that you have heard of this game. We’d go one step further to say that chances are you have already played this game. But how did this popularity of the game come to be? And what kind of games are there really? What are the rules that you need to learn in order to play it? Read this article and you will find out.
History of Poker
And after this pivotal moment – all else is history. Poker really began to blow up with the introduction of the World Series of Poker. The first tournament of this kind had only 8 entrants. Nowadays the number is in the thousands. Somewhere in-between players began writing books on strategy. This made the game more available to common people. And the moment it truly rose to fame is with the advent of online gambling. Also, hole-card cameras were introduced which made this game a spectator sport. Add to this a couple of charismatic celebrities and you have one of the most popular gambling games.
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Some popular Poker variants
There is no “single game” of poker. This is a whole family of different games that we’re talking about. However, they all have similar rules that relate them to one another. Some of the most popular variants that you can play are Draw Poker, Stud Poker and Community Poker.
Draw
Draw poker is a popular variant where the player gets a number of hidden cards. Then the player has the option to replace several of his cards for potentially better ones. The most popular version of Draw Poker is Five-card draw. There are other variants as well, such as 5 Card Draw Double Draw, 5 Card Draw Jacks or Better, 5 Card Draw Anaconda, and others.
Stud
Stud poker is also a highly popular variant. According to the rules of this version, the player gets face-up and face-down cards. There are multiple betting rounds. The most popular versions of Stud are Five-card stud and Seven-card stud.
Hold Em
Finally, we have the community games. Chances are that you have heard of the most popular variant – Texas Hold ’Em. In these versions, the players get an incomplete hidden hand and a number of shared community cards. There are also other variants like Six-plus hold ‘em and Greek hold ‘em.
There are also other variants, but the ones we mentioned above are the most popular. There are high-low split, lowball, kill game and many others. Also, there are mixed games such as H.O.R.S.E. This is a mix of Seven-card stud, Razz, Seven-card stud eight-or-better, Omaha high-low, and Texas hold ‘em.
Online Poker
We’ve mentioned before that the game exploded with the advent of the internet. There are many different benefits of gambling online as compared to gambling in bring and mortar casinos. The advent of online gambling meant that everyone could now gamble from the comfort of their own homes. There are a number of online platforms that players use to play poker on. A few that come to mind are Full Tilt and PokerStars but of course, you can play poker at any casinos that we recommend.
Planet Poker, and many others.
Back in 2003, one Chris Moneymaker entered WSOP by playing a satellite tournament on PokerStars. He then went to win the entire WSOP tournament and win millions of dollars. This became known as the “Moneymaker effect” as millions of people were drawn into online after that.
One of the biggest events in online history is the infamous Black Friday that happened back in 2011. At this time, the US Department of Justice seized the domain names of Full Tilt, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker. This meant that they froze the funds of all of the players. The US DoJ accused PokerStars of working as a Ponzi scheme and defrauding people of their money. Nowadays it’s illegal to play online poker in most countries in the US.
Regardless of that, online poker is an industry that continues to thrive. It’s been estimated that online poker has turned to be a several-billion-dollar industry. We think that this trend of the immense growth of poker’s popularity will go on for quite some time.
Psychology and skill
Many people feel that poker is a game based on luck. But this is not really the case. It’s true that there is an element of luck in this game. But there are also skill, math, and psychology that are involved. One popular saying about the game says “In short-term, luck is king. In long-term, skill is king.”
There are many particular elements of skill that you can work on while playing poker. This isn’t just some game that you can hope to win at with blind luck alone – though many people have tried doing this. And the best thing about the poker skills is that they can be used in other parts of your life. We can all agree that the ability to read other people is very important. Also, bluffing is an essential skill that you can really use no matter who you are.
It remains for you to dedicate your attention and effort to master these skills. Progress in this game is not a linear process. There will be times when you will think that you’re at the top of the world. There will be times when you will doubt the purpose of your existence while playing. It’s just in the nature of the game. But with time and effort, you will experience a dramatic increase in skill and success.
In conclusion
There are many reasons as to why the game is so popular. It’s very easy to pick up and play and the rules are simple. It’s widely available through the use of the internet. And it’s a game that involves not only luck, but also skills and psychology. If you think that this is something that interests you – then you’re welcome to give the game of poker a try. Read about more casino games in our guide and news section. Thanks for reading!
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