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Poker is a type of card game in which players bet on the value of the card combination ("hand") in their possession, by placing a bet into a central pot. The winner is the one who holds the hand with the highest value according to an established hand rankings hierarchy, or otherwise the player who remains in the hand after all others have folded (the player who makes an un-called bet). Variations Poker has many variations, all following a similar pattern of play and using the same hand ranking hierarchy. There are three main families of variants, largely grouped by the protocol of card-dealing and betting: "Straight" - A complete hand is dealt to each player, and players bet in one round, with raising and re-raising allowed. This is the oldest poker family; the root of the game as currently played was a game known as Primero, which evolved into the game Three-card brag (very popular in Britain around the time of the Revolutionary War). "Straight" hands of five cards are sometimes used as a final showdown, but poker is currently virtually always played in a more complex form to allow for additional strategy. Stud - Cards are dealt in a prearranged combination of face-down and face-up rounds or "streets", with a round of betting following each. This is the next-oldest family; as poker progressed from three to five-card hands, they were often dealt one card at a time, either face-down or face-up, with a betting round between each. The most popular stud variant today, 7 card stud, deals two extra cards to each player (three facedown, four face up) from which they must make the best possible 5-card hand. Draw - A complete hand is dealt to each player, face-down, and after betting, players are allowed to attempt to change their hand by discarding unwanted cards and being dealt new ones. 5 card draw is the most famous variation in this family. Community - A variation of Stud, players are dealt an incomplete hand of face-down cards, and then a number of face-up "community" cards are dealt to the center of the table, each of which can be used by one or more of the players to make a 5-card hand. Texas hold-em and Omaha are two well-known variants of the Community family. Other games that use poker hand rankings may likewise be referred to as "poker". Video poker is a single-player computer game that functions much like a slot machine; most video poker machines play draw poker, where the player bets, a hand is dealt, and the player can discard and replace cards. Payout is dependent on the hand resulting after the draw and the player's initial bet. Another game with the "Poker" name, but with a vastly different mode of play, is called "Acey-Deucey" or "Red Dog" Poker. This game is more similar to Blackjack in its layout and betting; each player bets against the house, and then is dealt two cards. For the player to win, the third card dealt (after an opportunity to raise the bet) must have a value in between the first two. Payout is based on the odds that this is possible, based on the difference in values of the first two cards. Poker contrary to popular belief is a game of skill, not of chance. It was from my professional background in bio-statistics that made this obvious. Then after reading a few books on the stats of poker this was confirmed it. If you want to choose a game to make money in the long term then poker is definitely the one. To put it bluntly if you are skilled at poker then in the long term there is no other outcome that to win money. Sure if my skill is better than yours and we only play two games then you may win. Does that mean you are better than me no of course not, it just means we played two games only and you got lucky. We could not confirm that you were better then me (in statistic it would not be considered evidence as the results would have what is known in stats as a high standard error). However if we played 2000 games (lower standard error) then I would win more than you because lucky is balanced out more evenly over many games, therefore skill is now more important. Another things I like about poker is that you are not playing against the casino (they just take a small percentage called the rake for hosting the game) you are playing against other players like yourself. In the long term if you have more skill than they do you WILL WIN MORE OFTEN THAN THEY WILL, MAYBE MARGINALLY BUT YOU WILL WIN. There are many good books and some bad on Poker. If you are a beginner (well not total beginner) as you should at least know the rules, then I suggest you purchase Ken Warren teach Texas Hold'em , this book has all the basic techniques to give you a decided advantage over your opponent. Texas Hold'em is by far the most popular poker game played on the net and in the casinos today. I suggest if you are starting with poker than you start with Texas Hold'em and then move onto Omaha etc at a later date. The main criticisms people make of this book is that the level is too low and the game play is too predictable. This is an unfair criticism as Warren is aiming at lower and middle limit players. It is my belier that there is nothing more important in poker than basics. Basics are THE most important aspect to master. Just like learning boxing horse riding or martial arts the basic techniques are THE most important. Learn these well and it will serve you very well. For a complete list of poker books and review click here. Reading is essential, read read read. |
