Poker is an exciting and a fast paced way to spend leisure time. From a leisure past time, some players have become poker professionals earning millions of dollars a year. The history of poker is not clearly defined. It's a little bit of several, similar games, but has become poker as we know it today. This article explains the history of poker and community card vs. draw poker, the two most popular types of poker played today.
Poker as we know it today has it's origins in several types of cultures. A Persian game called As-Nas is one of the derivatives of the game. It's a five card game without flushes or various rounds. As-Nas uses a twenty card deck. The cards are dealt and bets are made and the results are the results. Another similar type game is called Poque with origins in France. In America, poker was first played in the South. As people migrated to the West, it became a popular way to pass time. A 52 card deck was introduced as well as the flush hand. More variations were added to the game during the Civil War including stud poker, and the straight hand.
In 1970s, poker began to take shape as the poker we know today after the World Series of Poker was started. Important to note is today poker is nice sport featured on television. Back in the early days pre WSOP, poker was often played in back rooms. Players had to watch themselves going in and out of tournaments. Crime was common at the sites. Doyle Brunson recalls many situations of this nature during his early years playing poker.
Today, there are two popular types of poker played. One is video poker and the other is Texas Holdem Poker . Both of these games have variations as well. Video poker is the original poker game with a five card draw and Texas Holdem has a total of seven cards including community cards.
Texas Holdem Poker
Texas Holdem poker is one of the most popular poker games played today. Not only did the WSOP catch on but also the rise of the internet brought a worldwide audience and prizes that are in the millions of dollars. The broadcasts of live poker tournaments on cable channels has helped fuel the popularity of the game as well and is probably is the most direct reason Texas Holdem poker is so popular. Chris Moneymaker is cited by several poker champs as the reason they play poker today. Moneymaker was an accountant who won the WSOP in 2003. He qualified for it by playing at an online poker site.
Moneymaker played an online satellite tournament. A satellite tournament is a tournament that is centered around a main tournament. Many online sites will buy a tournament seat and provide mini tournaments to win this qualifying seat. Otherwise, Moneymaker would have had to pay the $10,000 entry fee out of pocket. After winning the WSOP, he became one of the poker celebrities that often in the news like Phil Ivey or Daniel Negreanu. He also wrote a bestselling book, Moneymaker: How an Amateur Poker Player Turned $40 into $2.5 Million at the World Series of Poker. Because of his popularity, today there is the "Moneymaker Effect". Many of the poker tournaments now have amateurs at the final table as well as seasoned professional players.
Variations of Holdem poker include pot limit, no limit and limit. In pot limit, raises can't be more than the pot. In limit holdem, betting during the first two rounds must be equal to the big blind. In the next two rounds, bets must be double the big blind. No limit has no barriers on the bets just following bettors must either be the most recent bet or fold. Similar community card poker games include Omaha Holdem poker, Double Holdem and Pineapple poker.
Video Poker Games
Video poker is another popular poker game. This game is based on five card draw and became popular with the computer age. These games are very popular in casinos and are usually next to the slots machines. For the player on a video poker machine, they don't have to check body language or put on a poker face. The computer dictates the outcomes and they are easier to maneuver around while still playing poker. In video poker, a player is dealt five cards. They can choose to hold or discard cards and rebet. The rebet round is the final hand winnings are based on. Winning hands are based on the standard poker hands though some games have variations that pay more or less in certain hands than in standard poker hands.
On a video poker machine, you have to check the paytable to see the payout for certain hands. They vary from machine to machine so it's important to check before. Some variations in the game are;
Jacks or Better Video Poker
Often simply called draw poker and is the most popular of video poker games. Payoffs start at a pair of jacks. Tens or Better is similar but the payoffs start with a pair of tens.
Joker's Wild
In this game, the joker is a wild card and substitutes for all other cards as a bonus. Five of a kind is one of the highest payouts on this machine. Deuces Wild poker is similar to Joker's Wild but the twos are wild cards.
Bonus Poker games are another variation of video poker and pay bonuses for four of a kind hands. In addition to the variations noted above, casinos also have low payout video poker games as well. Experienced players avoid these machines. Check each machine prior to playing. It's important to note, most casinos payback percentage is higher than listed on the machine since every space can be utilized for revenue on the casino floor. Regular pay video poker games often have higher payout percentages to keep customers coming back.
You can find all of the video poker games in standard casino software when you download from an online poker site. Many of these sites also have a faux Texas Holdem poker game. It's not with fellow players just you playing against the computer.
In conclusion, there are two types of poker games played most widely today. Community card and five card draw poker. They are both engaging and fun to play. Big numbers can be made in the Texas Holdem games ,while nice jackpots can be had at the video poker type games. Both require some experience learning to play but are rewarding uses of time in any case.
