Play Poker While Poker Has

¶ … Play Poker While Poker has become associated with old westerns and Las Vegas casinos, Poker is actually a game that was played hundreds of years ago. Germans played a game called Pochen as early as the 16th century and the Persians were thought to play a game similar to Poker centuries ago. There is also a French version called Poque, which the French brought to New Orleans -- and the popularity of the game spread like wildfire.

So, now that we know that Poker is a centuries old game, it's important that we understand why Poker has survived. It's a simple answer, Poker can help keep you on your toes -- mentally speaking and it's a fun way to spend a few hours… Okay, more importantly, it can make you lots of money. But in order to make that money, you have to know how to play. So, put on your poker face and pay attention.

First, let's start out with the object of Poker: to win the pot. A player will wage a bet, hoping that he or she has the winning hand, or -- and this is important -- to give the impression that he or she holds a winning hand and thus make his opponents believe that they must fold. Rule #1 of poker was best spoken by the gambler himself -- Kenny Rogers, of course: Know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em.

Money saved is just as important and valuable as the money won. In the majority of poker games, the top combination of five cards is the best hand. Poker can be played with as few as two players or as many as one wants -- but, typically speaking, two to ten players is an ideal number for a game of poker. (In most casinos you'll find set ups of eight players for a seven-card game.) Most types of poker utilize a standard 52-card deck.

Poker chips are the ideal way to play poker, although people can use whatever they want -- pennies, peanuts, etc. There's nothing like playing with real poker chips, though. (Fun fact #1: Poker chips used to be made of clay, but now they come in a durable plastic or composite.) You can also find different colors and patterns, however, the typical colors and values are: White is $1; red is $5; green is $25; black is $100; and purple is $500.

Winning the pot is accomplished in one of two ways: you show your opponents the best hand (which could be a high or low hand, depending on what type of poker you are playing) or you can "bluff" and convince them that you have the best hand. Each poker hand is begun by putting a token amount of money in the form of an ante or one of more blind bets. If an ante is used, everyone must put a small percentage of the initial bet into the pot.

If blinds are used, one or more players will be designated to post a bet or a partial bet before getting any cards. Blinds usually are rotated around the table, so everyone pays his or her fair share. During the play of a hand, opportunities to bet and raise occur after each round of cards is dealt. If at any time you decided to not continue in the hand, you may discard it, though you are forfeiting your interest in the pot.

This means then that you don't have to put any additional money into the pot. If you are the bettor or raiser and no one calls your last bet, you win the pot. If one or more players do call, then the person with the best hand wins the pot. Those are the basics of poker. Now, we're going to learn the rankings of hands.

A straight flush is five cards of the same suit in a sequence; an ace-high straight flush is called a "royal flush" and this is the best possible hand that one can have in a poker game. Four of a kind is four cards of the same rank, plus an unrelated fifth card that doesn't have any bearing on the hand's value. The higher the rank of the four of a kind, the better the hand is.

A full house is three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank. The rank of the full house is determined by the three of a kind as opposed to the pair. So, if you have three jacks and two kings, your hand will be ranked by the jacks. A flush is any five cards of the same suit. The cards aren't in a sequence in a flush and so the suit doesn't affect the rank of the flush.

If more than one player has a flush, the flush is determined by the rank of the individual's cards, starting with the highest card. A straight is five cards in a sequence -- not all of the same suit. A tip for the poker player is to realize that poker takes skill and to become good at it, you've got to have skills; however, there is still a large element of luck in the game.

Good players therefore can beat bad players, but that won't necessarily happen the next time the.