Online Poker

Poker variations

There are man different poker games and each game can be played with different rule. In High-Low Poker, for instance, the pot is divided between the holders of the highest and lowest hands at the showdown. In some poker games the player on the dealer's left is required to put an agreed stake, known as an 'ante', in the pot, the next player puts in a 'straddle', twice the amount of the ante, and the third player opens the betting. In all poker games an additional option to dropping out, calling or raising can be allowed by agreement. It is known as checking. The player whose turn it is to stake first in each betting interval (the player on the dealer's left, or the player with highest combination showing in stud poker) may check, and remain in the game without increasing his stake. Subsequent players may do the same, until a player raises, when, of course, all poker games wild cards may be used by prior agreement. The Joker may be added to the pack as a solitary wild card, or black Twos, or all four Twos, may be wild. At the showdown, players are required to state which cards Their wild cards represent. With wild cards, a new rank of hand is possible: five of a kind. It is the highest hand.

Poker strategy

It is claimed by good poker players that poker is more skillful game than bridge. This assertion is based on the belief that a good poker player can win more consistently and surely than a good bridge player. The good player is required to have some idea of the mathematical odds against improving any hand he is dealt by the draw, and as there are 2,598,960 possible poker hands in a 52-cards pack, this is tall order. He must consider the size of the pot and calculate how much he might expect to win in relation to the stake required to remain in the game. He must know the practice of the other players and and be able to estimate the strength of his opponents' hands by the number of cards they draw and the way they bet. At the same time he must vary his own betting strategy to deny the other players the same information about himself. Above all, he must cultivate a 'poker face'. Such skills can only come from the study of books dealing exclusively with the game and from long practice as a player. Beginners should accept that they are likely to lose to regular players, and should limit their bets accordingly.