The card game poker is the most popular of a class of games called vying games, in which players with fully or partially concealed cards make wagers into a central pot, after which the pot is awarded to the remaining player or players with the best combination of cards.
In order to play, one must learn the basic rules and procedures of the game (see /Game play), the values of the various combinations of cards (see /Hands), and the rules about betting limits (see /Betting structure). Some knowledge of the /Equipment used to play is useful. There are also many /Variants of poker, loosely categorized as Draw poker, Stud poker, Community card poker, and Miscellaneous poker games. The most commonly played games of the first three categories are Five-card draw, Seven-card stud, and Texas hold'em; each of these makes a good starting point for learning games of the type.
The history of poker is a matter of some debate. The name of the game likely descended from the French poque, which descended from the German pochen, but it is not clear that the games named by those terms were the real origins of poker. It closely resembles the Persian game of as nas, and may have been taught to French settlers in New Orleans by Persian sailors. Some claim it decended from the Italian game of primero and the French brelan. The English game bragg clearly descended from brelan and incorporated bluffing (though the concept was known in other games by that time). It is quite possible that all of these earlier games influenced the development of poker as it exists now.
English actor Joseph Crowell described the game as played in New Orleans in 1829: played with a deck of 20 cards, four players bet on which player's hand of cards was the most valuable. Jonathan H. Green's book An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling (G. B. Zieber, Philadelphia, 1843) described spread of the game from there to the rest of the country by Mississippi? riverboats, on which gambling was a common pastime.
Soon after this spread, the full 52-card English deck was used, and the /Flush was introduced. During the American Civil War, many additions were made, including draw poker, stud poker (the five-card variant), and the /Straight. Further American developments followed, such as the /Wild card (around 1875), lowball and split-pot poker (around 1900), and Community card poker games (around 1940). Spread of the game to other countries, particularly in Asia, is often attributed to the American military.
The game and jargon? of poker have become important parts of American culture. Such phrases as ace in the hole, ante up, beats me, blue chip, call the bluff, cash in, pass the buck, poker face, stack up, when the chips are down, wild card, and others are used in everyday conversation even by those unaware of their origins at the poker table.
Modern /Tournament? play became popular in American casinos after the World Series of Poker began in 1970. It was also during that decade that the first serious strategy books appeared, notably The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky (ISBN 1880685000 (amazon.com, search)), Super System by Doyle Brunson (ISBN 0931444014 (amazon.com, search)), and The Book of Tells by Mike Caro (ISBN 0897461002 (amazon.com, search)).
[Poker-related game]?s include non-poker vying games commonly played along with poker such as [Seven twenty-seven]?, [Zero fifty-five]?, Bouré?, and [Caro Dots]?, and unrelated games that use poker hands in various ways such as [Dollar bill poker]?, [Pai Gow poker]?, [Carribean stud]?, [Mambo stud]?, and [Chinese poker]?.
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