Poker World

Here are some poker facts, some funny and some not so funny!

• The number of possible poker hands available with 52 cards is 2,598,960.
• The USA sells around 70 million packs of cards every year.
• When Columbus docked in America in 1492 his fellowmen found leaves from trees, drew pictures on them and had games of cards.
• The sport of poker is the third most watched on cable TV, slightly behind racing and football.
• A fifth card suit was added to poker in 1937. However this never caught on as people didn’t want to have to buy new sets of cards.
• The four kings in each set resembles a famous king from history – Spades – King David, Hearts is Charlemagne, Clubs is Alexander the Great and Diamonds is Julius Caesar.
• A famous phrase used in poker is the ‘dead man’s hand’. This is when a player has an Ace and an Eight. This phrase has being created after Wild Bill Hickok was playing poker and was shot; he was holding the ace and the eight at the time.

Five Card Draw is one of the more simpler poker games available to play. The game is a more classic poker game, and is one of the games that most poker amateurs play when they are starting out. Five Card Draw was the first form of poker that was used by professionals before Texas Hold’em was introduced. As with all poker games the rules are pretty similar and the aim of the game is the same, get the best hand to win the pot!

Five Card Draw can be typically played with anywhere from 2 players to 8 players. Again, all poker games require each player to place an ante (a small chip amount) into the pot before they can start playing.

The start of the game is similar to other poker games, each player is dealt some cards face down, in this case each player is given five cards. Betting takes place in the first round and anyone still left after the first round can then trade in one, two or three of their five cards for new cards. Again, another round of betting takes place and after this round players show their cards, with the player who has the best hand winning the pot. As I say, it’s a simple enough game to follow and play. Winning Five-Card Draw is another matter.

Rules

• Players place their antes into the pot.
• Dealer deals five cards, face down to each player. The dealer deals to the player on their left first before moving round the table dealing cards to other players.
• Players check their cards and the first betting round takes place. At this point players who aren’t happy with their hands can fold when its their turn to bet.
• After the first round of betting is complete, any player left can trade in up to three of their cards for new ones. Should a player have an ace, then they can swap their other four cards for four new ones (keeping the ace). However, anyone claiming to have an ace has to show it to the dealer.
• Players who are still involved in the round are dealt new cards and the next round of betting takes place.
• The betting is completed and the players who are still ‘in’ show their hands. The player with the best hand wins the pot.

Seven card stud is one other popular poker game, which can be played by between two and eight players. The betting rounds in Seven Card Stud are as follows; Players place their Antes, five betting rounds take place during the game.

Seven Card Stud is played as follows: each player is given three cards to keep hidden and only be seen by themselves. Four cards are placed in the middle of the table to be seen by all players. Players try to create a high hand, and the player who creates the highest hand at the end wins the pot. Players can use any five card combinations to create their hand, so they could use two of their own three cards plus three from the middle for example.

Rules

• Antes are placed by players before the game starts.
• Three cards are dealt to each player, each player hides two of their cards, and one is shown to everyone.
• The first round of betting takes place, the player who has the lowest card shown starts the betting.
• Each player is then given another card, a fourth one face-up.
• A second round of betting gets underway, the player who has the highest two card combination starts the betting.
• Another card is dealt to each player, face-up and the third round of betting begins.
• After the next round of betting another card isdealt to each player face-up and the fourth round of betting gets underway.
• The last card is dealt face-down to all players and the last round of betting takes place.
• Players show their hands after the last round of betting and the player who has the highest hand of five cards out of the seven wins the whole pot.

Another popular poker game is called Omaha Hi. It is not as popular as Texas Hold’em, but is still played by many poker players around the world. Just like most poker games it can be played by a minimum of two players and a maximum of ten. There are four rounds of betting during the game. Players are given four cards that are hidden from other players at the start. Five cards are placed in the middle of the table in view of everyone. Players use the four cards they were given to try to get the highest hand they can using the five cards from the middle. They can use two of their cards and three of the five in the middle to create their highest hand.

Omaha Hi/Lo is a similar version of the game, except that players try to create the highest hand possible and/or the lowest hand they can, again using two of their own cards and three from the middle of the table.

Rules

Omaha is almost identical as Texas Hold’em. However there are two differences between the games:

• Unlike in Texas Hold’em where players are given two cards at the start, in Omaha players are given four cards.
• Players have to use two of their own cards and three from the middle of the table to create their hand.

Here is a more in detail look at the game known as Omaha.

• Bets are placed at the beginning of the game just like in Texas Hold’em, known as Ante’s.
• Players are given four cards to keep; only you can see what cards you have at this point.
• First round of betting takes place after the four cards have being handed out to each player. At this point players can call, raise or fold their hand.
• Three cards are placed in the middle of the table after the first round of betting and the second round of the betting takes place.
• After the second round of betting has finished, also known as the ‘Flop’, a fourth card is dealt to the middle of the table. The third round begins, known as the ‘Turn’.
• The last card is placed into the middle after the third round has finished. The ‘River’ begins, which is the last round of betting.
• Players begin to show their hands after the last round of betting, with the player(s) who have the highest hand being declared the winner(s). The highest hand player wins the pot and the game continues into the next round.

Texas Hold’em Rules

One of the most famous and one of the best poker games is known as Texas Hold’em. Texas Hold’em is a poker game that can be played with as few as ten players and a maximum of ten players. Texas Hold’em is a poker game known by many American players as well as many players around the world. It is a fast game that can be over in no time. During the World Poker Tour, Texas Hold’em is the main game that is used.

Texas Hold’em originated in Texas, although this can’t be 100% proved. During the 1900’s the game was played by players in Texas and this is when the game first took off. The game spread around America when a few Texas players went to Las Vegas in the early 1900’s and it has being one of the most well known games around the world since then.

Texas Hold’em has four betting rounds during the game. Each player is given two cards which are facing the table, so other players can’t see which card you get. Five cards are then put into the middle of the table facing up, so that everyone can see them. The winner is the player who has the highest hand at the end, and they win the main pot.
Rules

• Each player must put in a bet at the beginning of the game to be able to start the main game; this is known as an ante.
• Each player is given two private cards at the beginning faced down towards the table.
• The player who is left of the biggest ante, third to the dealer starts the first round of betting. During this first round players can call, raise or fold.
• After the first round of betting the dealer places three cards into the middle of the table facing up and the second round of betting begins. This round of betting is known as the ‘flop’.
• After the second round of betting the fourth card is placed into the middle. Again the next round of betting starts: the third round. This round is known as the ‘turn’. Bets are doubled in this round from the previous ones.
• The last card, the fifth one is placed in the middle after the third round. The last round then begins and this is known as the ‘River’.
• After all five rounds of betting have taken place, the players show their cards and the player with the highest hand wins the entire hand. If players have identical cards then the pot is split up accordingly.