Poker is a family of
comparing card games in which
players wager
Wager can refer to:
Gambling
* Wager, the amount of a valuable staked when gambling on an event with an uncertain outcome, with the primary intent of winning money or material goods
* Legal wager, required by both parties at the preliminary hearin ...
over which
hand
A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...
is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game was played with just 20 cards, today it is usually played with a
standard deck, although in countries where
short pack
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a fi ...
s are common, it may be played with 32, 40 or 48 cards.
[Parlett (2008), pp. 568–570.] Thus poker games vary in deck configuration, the number of cards in play, the number
dealt
''Dealt'' is a 2017 American documentary film directed by Luke Korem. The film is about the life and career of Richard Turner - who is renowned as one of the world's greatest card magicians, yet he is completely blind.
In the documentary, Richar ...
face up or face down, and the number
shared by all players, but all have rules that involve one or more rounds of betting.
In most modern poker games, the first round of betting begins with one or more of the players making some form of a forced bet (the ''
blind'' or ''ante''). In standard poker, each player bets according to the rank they believe their hand is worth as compared to the other players. The action then proceeds clockwise as each player in turn must either match (or "call") the maximum previous bet, or
fold, losing the amount bet so far and all further involvement in the hand. A player who matches a bet may also "raise" (increase) the bet. The betting round ends when all players have either called the last bet or folded. If all but one player folds on any round, the remaining player collects the pot without being required to reveal their hand. If more than one player remains in contention after the final betting round, a
showdown
A showdown is a duel. The term may also refer to:
Places
* Showdown Ski Area, in Montana, United States
Books
* ''Showdown'' (Amado novel), a 1984 novel by Jorge Amado
* ''Showdown'' (Dekker novel), a 2006 novel by Ted Dekker
* ''Showdown'' (F ...
takes place where the hands are revealed, and the player with the winning hand takes the pot.
With the exception of initial forced bets, money is only placed into the pot voluntarily by a player who either believes the bet has positive
expected value
In probability theory, the expected value (also called expectation, expectancy, mathematical expectation, mean, average, or first moment) is a generalization of the weighted average. Informally, the expected value is the arithmetic mean of a l ...
or who is trying to
bluff
Bluff or The Bluff may refer to:
Places Australia
* Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town
* The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich
* The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality
* Bluff River (New So ...
other players for various strategic reasons. Thus, while the outcome of any particular hand significantly involves chance, the long-run expectations of the players are determined by their actions chosen on the basis of
probability
Probability is the branch of mathematics concerning numerical descriptions of how likely an Event (probability theory), event is to occur, or how likely it is that a proposition is true. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and ...
,
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
, and
game theory
Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. Myerson, Roger B. (1991). ''Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict,'' Harvard University Press, p.&nbs1 Chapter-preview links, ppvii–xi It has appli ...
.
Poker has increased in popularity since the beginning of the 20th century and has gone from being primarily a recreational activity confined to small groups of enthusiasts to a widely popular activity, both for participants and spectators, including online, with many professional players and multimillion-dollar tournament prizes.
History
While poker's exact origin is the subject of debate, many game scholars point to the French game Poque and the Persian game As-Nas as possible early inspirations. For example, in the 1937 edition of Foster's Complete
Hoyle,
R. F. Foster wrote that "the game of poker, as first played in the United States, five cards to each player from a twenty-card pack, is undoubtedly the Persian game of
As-Nas
As-Nas () is a card game or type of playing cards that were used in Persia.Sports and Games of Medieval Cultures. Sally E. D. Wilkins. (2002). 325 pag. ,
Description
The design of the packs is simple, consisting of only five individual c ...
." However, in the 1990s the notion that poker is a direct derivative of As-Nas began to be challenged by gaming historians including
David Parlett
David Parlett (born 18 May 1939 in London) is a games scholar, historian, and translator from South London, who has studied both card games and board games. He is the president of the British Skat Association.
His published works include many pop ...
. What is certain, however, is that poker was popularised in the American South in the early 19th century, as gambling riverboats in the Mississippi River and around New Orleans during the 1830s helped spread the game. One early description of poker played on a steamboat in 1829 is recorded by the English actor,
Joe Cowell. The game was played with twenty cards ranking from Ace (high) to Ten (low).
In contrast to this version of poker,
seven-card stud
Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River is a variant of stud poker. Before the 2000s surge of popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was the most widely played poker variant in home games across the United States, a ...
only appeared in the middle of the 19th century, and was largely spread by the US military. It became a staple in many casinos following the second world war, and grew in popularity with the advent of the
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...
in the 1970s.
Texas hold 'em
Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five Community card poker, communit ...
and other community card games began to dominate the gambling scenes over the next couple of decades. The
televising of poker was a particularly strong influence increasing the popularity of the game during the turn of the
millennium
A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...
, resulting in the
poker boom The poker boom was a period between 2003 and 2006, during which poker, primarily no-limit Texas hold 'em, but also other variations, became considerably more popular around the world. During the boom years, the online poker player pool at least doub ...
a few years later between 2003 and 2006. Today the game has grown to become an extremely popular pastime worldwide.
Gameplay
In casual play, the right to
deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
a hand typically rotates among the players and is marked by a token called a ''
dealer button'' (or ''buck''). In a
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
, a house dealer handles the
cards for each hand, but the button (typically a white plastic disk) is rotated clockwise among the players to indicate a nominal dealer to determine the order of betting. The cards are dealt clockwise around the
poker table
A poker table or card table is a table specifically designed for playing card games.
Traditional card tables
The card table arose around 1700 as card games became wildly popular in Europe. The manufacture of card tables as fine home furniture l ...
, one at a time.
One or more players are usually required to make
forced bets, usually either an ''ante'' or a ''blind bet'' (sometimes both). The dealer
shuffle
Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. Shuffling is often followed by a cut, to help ensure that the shuffler has not manipulated the outcome.
__TOC__
Techniques
Overha ...
s the cards, the player on the chair to his or her right
cuts, and the dealer deals the appropriate number of cards to the players one at a time, beginning with the player to his or her left. Cards may be dealt either face-up or face-down, depending on the variant of poker being played. After the initial deal, the first of what may be several
betting
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three eleme ...
rounds begins. Between rounds, the players' hands develop in some way, often by being dealt additional cards or replacing cards previously dealt. At the end of each round, all bets are gathered into the central pot.
At any time during a betting round, if one player bets, no opponents choose to ''call'' (match) the bet, and all opponents instead ''fold'', the hand ends immediately, the bettor is awarded the pot, no cards are required to be shown, and the next hand begins. This is what makes
bluffing possible. Bluffing is a primary feature of poker, distinguishing it from other vying games and from other games that use
poker hand rankings.
At the end of the last betting round, if more than one player remains, there is a
showdown
A showdown is a duel. The term may also refer to:
Places
* Showdown Ski Area, in Montana, United States
Books
* ''Showdown'' (Amado novel), a 1984 novel by Jorge Amado
* ''Showdown'' (Dekker novel), a 2006 novel by Ted Dekker
* ''Showdown'' (F ...
, in which the players reveal their previously hidden cards and evaluate their hands. The player with the best hand according to the poker variant being played wins the pot. A poker hand comprises five cards; in variants where a player has more than five cards available to them, only the best five-card combination counts. There are 10 different kinds of poker hands, such as straight flush and four of a kind.
Variants
![2006 WSOP Main Event Table](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/2006_WSOP_Main_Event_Table.jpg)
Poker has many
variations
Variation or Variations may refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon
* Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individuals ...
, all following a similar pattern of play and generally using the same hand ranking hierarchy. There are four main families of variants, largely grouped by the protocol of card-dealing and betting:
;Straight: A complete hand is dealt to each player, and players bet in one round, with raising and re-raising allowed. This is the oldest poker family; the root of the game as now played was a game known as
Primero
Primero (in English also called Primus, ', or in Italian '' or Spanish ''Primera'')'', is a 16th-century gambling card game of which the earliest reference dates back to 1526. Primero is closely related to the game of primo visto (a.k.a. prima-vi ...
, which evolved into the game
three-card brag
Brag is an 18th century British card game, and the British national representative of the vying or "bluffing" family of gambling games. It is a descendant of the Elizabethan game of Primero and one of the several ancestors to poker, the modern ver ...
, a very popular gentleman's game around the time of the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
and still enjoyed in the U.K. today. ''Straight'' hands of five cards are sometimes used as a final showdown, but poker is almost always played in a more complex form to allow for additional strategy.
;
Stud poker
Stud poker is any of a number of poker variants in which each player receives a mix of face-down and face-up cards dealt in multiple betting rounds. Stud games are also typically '' non-positional'' games, meaning that the player who bets first ...
: Cards are dealt in a prearranged combination of face-down and face-up rounds, or ''streets'', with a round of betting following each. This is the next-oldest family; as poker progressed from three to five-card hands, they were often dealt one card at a time, either face-down or face-up, with a betting round between each. The most popular stud variant today,
seven-card stud
Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River is a variant of stud poker. Before the 2000s surge of popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was the most widely played poker variant in home games across the United States, a ...
, deals two extra cards to each player (three face-down, four face-up) from which they must make the best possible 5-card hand.
;
Draw poker
Draw poker is any poker variant in which each player is dealt a complete hand before the first betting round, and then develops the hand for later rounds by replacing, or "drawing", cards.
The descriptions below assume the reader is familiar wi ...
:
Five-card draw
Five-card draw (also known as a Cantrell draw) is a poker variant that is considered the simplest variant of poker, and is the basis for video poker. As a result, it is often the first variant learned by new players. It is commonly played in ho ...
: A complete hand is dealt to each player, face-down. Then each player must place an ante to the pot. They can then see their cards and bet accordingly. After betting, players can discard up to three cards and take new ones from the top of the deck. Then, another round of betting takes place. Finally, each player must show his or her cards and the player with the best hand wins.
;
Community card poker
Community card poker refers to any game of poker that uses community cards (also called "shared cards"), which are cards dealt face up in the center of the table and shared by all players. In these games, each player is dealt an incomplete hand f ...
: Also known as "flop poker", community card poker is a variation of stud poker. Players are dealt an incomplete hand of face-down cards, and then a number of face-up community cards are dealt to the centre of the table, each of which can be used by one or more of the players to make a 5-card hand.
Texas hold 'em
Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five Community card poker, communit ...
and
Omaha
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...
are two well-known variants of the community card family.
There are several methods for defining the structure of betting during a hand of poker. The three most common structures are known as "fixed-limit", "pot-limit", and "no-limit". In fixed-limit poker, betting and raising must be done by standardised amounts. For instance, if the required bet is X, an initial bettor may only bet X; if a player wishes to raise a bet, they may only raise by X. In pot-limit poker, a player may bet or raise any amount up to the size of the pot. When calculating the maximum raise allowed, all previous bets and calls, including the intending raiser's call, are first added to the pot. The raiser may then raise the previous bet by the full amount of the pot. In no-limit poker, a player may wager their entire betting stack at any point that they are allowed to make a bet. In all games, if a player does not have enough betting chips to fully match a bet, they may go "all-in", allowing them to show down their hand for the amount of chips they have remaining.
![James Garner Bret Maverick Jack Kelly Bart Maverick](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/James_Garner_Bret_Maverick_Jack_Kelly_Bart_Maverick.JPG)
While typical poker games award the pot to the highest hand as per the standard ranking of poker hands, there are variations where the best hand, and thus the hand awarded the pot, is the lowest-ranked hand instead. In such games the best hand contains the lowest cards rather than the highest cards; some variations may be further complicated by whether or not hands such as flushes and straights are considered in the hand rankings. There are also games where the highest and lowest hands divide the pot between them, known as "high low split" games.
Other games that use poker hand rankings may likewise be referred to as ''poker''.
Video poker
Video poker is a casino game based on five-card draw poker. It is played on a computerized console similar in size to a slot machine.
History
Video poker first became commercially viable when it became economical to combine a television-like moni ...
is a
single-player video game
A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usuall ...
that functions much like a
slot machine
A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively a ...
; most video poker machines play draw poker, where the player bets, a hand is dealt, and the player can discard and replace cards. Payout is dependent on the hand resulting after the draw and the player's initial bet.
Strip poker
file:strip solitaire.jpg, alt= A man sits on a pillow facing away from the viewer, wearing only a belt and a bandanna. He holds a fanned hand of playing cards. An electric guitar and other objects frame the edges of the image., A man plays a strip ...
is a traditional poker variation where players remove clothing when they lose bets. Since it depends only on the basic mechanic of betting in rounds, strip poker can be played with any form of poker; however, it is usually based on simple variants with few betting rounds, like five card draw.
Another game with the ''poker'' name, but with a vastly different mode of play, is called ''
Acey-Deucey'' or ''
Red Dog'' poker. This game is more similar to
Blackjack
Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fami ...
in its layout and betting; each player bets against the house, and then is dealt two cards. For the player to win, the third card dealt (after an opportunity to raise the bet) must have a value in-between the first two. Payout is based on the odds that this is possible, based on the difference in values of the first two cards. Other poker-like games played at casinos against the house include
three card poker and
pai gow poker.
Computer programs
A variety of
computer poker player
A computer poker player is a computer program designed to play the game of poker against human opponents or other computer opponents. It is commonly referred to as pokerbot or just simply bot.
On the Internet
These bots or computer programs ar ...
s have been developed by researchers at the
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...
,
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
, and the
University of Auckland
, mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work
, established = 1883; years ago
, endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021)
, budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021)
, chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant
, vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...
amongst others.
In a January 2015 article published in ''
Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
'', a group of researchers mostly from the
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...
announced that they "essentially weakly solved"
heads-up limit ''Texas Hold 'em'' with their development of their
Cepheus poker bot. The authors claimed that Cepheus would lose at most 0.001 big blinds per game on average against its worst-case opponent, and the strategy is thus so "close to optimal" that "it can't be beaten with statistical significance within a lifetime of human poker playing".
See also
*
Glossary of poker terms
The following is a glossary of poker terms used in the card game of poker. It supplements the glossary of card game terms. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon poker slang terms. This is not intended to be ...
*
International Poker Rules
*
List of poker hands
In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called ''hands'', according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high ...
*
Online poker
Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a huge increase in the number of poker players worldwide. Christiansen Capital Advisors stated online poker revenues grew from $82.7 million in 2001 t ...
*
Outline of poker
The following Outline (list), outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to poker:
Poker – family of card games that share betting (poker), betting rules and usually (but not always) List of poker hands, hand rankings. Poker ...
*
Underground poker
Underground poker is poker played in a venue not operating in accordance with local gaming laws.
In many jurisdictions, an unlicensed poker game may still be legal if the game is played in a residence, the host does not profit, and/or the buy-in ...
References
Literature
*
Parlett, David
David Parlett (born 18 May 1939 in London) is a games scholar, historian, and translator from South London, who has studied both card games and board games. He is the president of the British Skat Association.
His published works include many pop ...
(2008), ''The Penguin Book of Card Games'', London: Penguin,
External links
*
{{Authority control
19th-century card games
American card games
Gambling games
Games of mental skill
Multiplayer games
American inventions