Poker is quite possibly the best known card game in the world. Everybody has an opinion of what poker is and what it means but these opinions vary quite drastically. So let’s have a general talk about poker, where it came from and where it’s going. Let’s discuss what poker means to people, the types of poker games that are played and the places you can play poker.

If you were to ask the average person on the street their opinion of poker you would have many various views. Some people would relate poker to Hollywood gangster movies, thinking it has a seedy underworld heritage and is surrounded by crime. Other people would tell you about the enormous level of skill, nerve and stamina required to perform well through three and four-day-long poker tournaments under the intense heat of TV camera lighting while viewers across the world watch you play for millions of dollars.

Some people play the odd game of internet poker online in the evenings; others play live poker tournaments at their local casinos. Some of us don’t really play much at all but enjoy watching the high tension and drama of live televised poker events such as the World Series of Poker or the World Poker Tour, where millions of dollars are won in prizes. The dawn of the internet poker era has brought this great card game to the attention of millions of players across the globe who can now come together to play for enormous cash prizes at the thousands of poker sites on the internet. Many internet poker players make lucrative livings from playing at the virtual poker tables.

There are numerous variations of poker, each with differing rules and characteristics and each requiring different skills and qualities to master. Some of the most popular versions of poker include;

Texas Holdem – Is the most popular internet poker game. Each player is dealt two ‘hole cards’ (face down), a round of betting takes place, three ‘community cards’ (cards dealt face up which all players can use to make a winning poker hand), another round of betting takes place, the ‘turn’ card (a fourth community card) is dealt, a further round of betting takes place, the ‘river’ card (the final community card) is dealt and a final round of betting takes place. The player with the best hand at the showdown (the end of the hand after all bets have been made and all cards have been dealt) wins the pot.

Omaha – Similar to Texas Holdem, Omaha has five community cards dealt and the same betting structure only instead of being dealt two hole cards you are dealt four at the poker tables. The object is to make the best hand using two of your four hole cards and three of the five community cards.

Stud Poker – Stud Poker offers a completely different game to Omaha or Texas Holdem. When playing stud poker, each player is dealt on or two hole cards face down plus one card face up for everybody to see. There are a few variations of stud poker, each normally named after the number of cards involved in the game and each with their own specific rules and strategies.

So in summary, poker means something different to everybody but it certainly is becoming a popular pastime to people from all walks of life and is also being understood better and its shady image is slowly being replaced by one showing a game of immense skill enjoyed by millions across the world.