Poker – Puckering Your Luck

So, do you like to play poker? Ahh!! Come on. How can you say no to the most famous gambling game on this planet?

Origin

Poker history is rather debatable. There is a close resemblance between poker and as-nas, a Persian game which was played amongst 5 players with a 25 card deck having 5 suits. Hence, there is a distinct possibility that Persian sailors might have taught this game to New Orleans settlers. However, this dates back to just 17th century.

The widest belief suggests that poker was invented by Chinese people around 900 A.D. There is one more theory which holds the French card game, “poque”, as responsible for the origination of poker. French people inhabited New Orleans in the late 15th century. Their game poque was involved betting and bluffing too. This was probably the first time when a deck which consisted of spades, clubs, diamonds and hearts, was used. It is also believed that Ganjifa, a card game played by Indians, is responsible for the origination of modern cards. Poker history is filled with such confusions.

First written reference towards the game of poker was made by Jonathan Green in 1834. He talks about the rules about a game which was played on the boats of Mississippi river. He used the term “cheating game” for referring to poker. This event holds a significant place in poker history as prior to this; no reference was ever made about poker.

Hence, there is a lot of confusion regarding poker’s origin which makes the task of scripting an accurate poker history a difficult one to accomplish.

The Name

Various issues over the origin of this name are:

• An 18th century card game played by the French, poque, is responsible for the name poker.

• Pochspiel, a German card game, involving bluffing, is responsible for the coining of poker.

• Poker may be a derivative of the pukka, a Hindu word.

• The word “poke”, which is a slang used by underworld people or pickpockets is responsible for the name poker.

• The name poker originated from the term “poke” which was derived from “hocus-pocus”. This term is widely used by magicians.

Hence, like poker’s origin, its name’s origin is also not surely known which further makes the task of finding a definitive poker history a difficult one.

About Poker

A poker history can never be completed without including the current scenario. As of now, a standard playing card deck having 52 cards is used for playing poker games. There are no regulating organizations available in the world for formulating the rules of poker. These rules are passed by experience and tradition. In most of the poker games, trading of money is done in return of chips which are then put into the game pot. After the game ends, poker chips can be traded for cashing out the won money.

There are three types of poker games:

• No-limit – There is no limit to the amount which is bet by players.
• Fixed-limit – There are a couple of betting amounts.
• Pot-limit – Pot’s current amount including the current limit is the game’s betting limit.

Before making a bet, it is essential that you calculate the pot odds which are a ratio between called bet and amount in the pot.

Poker’s Evolution

Since its origination, poker has continuously multiplied and changed forms towards becoming the most popular card game of the world. Some of its forms are:

• Stud or 5-card draw – This is considered to be the standard poker. Its popularity is dipping nowadays though, especially in various casinos. Here, 5 cards are given face-down to each player. This is followed by betting rounds. Each player than discards the desired quantity of cards after which the house dealer deals out a similar number to him/her. Not more than 5 cards can be drawn at a time. After all the players have drawn their cards, one more betting round is conducted which is eventually followed by showdown.

• Texas Hold’ em – This is America’s most popular game of poker. Large tournaments which include Poker’s World Series are conducted wherein this game is played. This game employs two blinds, a small one and a big one. Player standing to the dealer’s left posts the smaller blind, which is usually 50% of the table’s lower betting boundary. Players standing to mall blind’s left posts the larger blind which is 50% of higher betting boundary. Two cards, termed as hole cards, are given to each player face down, betting round is held and then dealing of 3 cards is done face up over the table’s centre. This deal of 3 cards is termed the flop. Cards which are placed at the table’s centre and are facing up are termed the board and any player can use them at showdown. One more card, the turn, is placed over the board facing up and a betting round is held. This is done one more time for placing the river, fifth card, over the board for creating the most optimum five-card hand.

• Other poker variations are Omaha, 7-card stud, Manila, Razz, Stud Poker, and Draw Poker.

Hence, as can be seen that poker history, though not so definitive, but still it carries with it a lot of tradition. Start playing poker and be a part of the poker history.