The Basics of Poker
Among the oldest games, Poker has a long history of bluffing and misdirection. In fact, the word poker comes from a 17th-century French game called poque. It was later adapted into German pochen, a variation of primero. The game spread throughout North America and Europe, and its name has become synonymous with the game. Today, more than two billion people play poker every year. Its origins are a bit obscure, but poker is certainly not an ancient art.
When playing poker, each player has seven cards – two personal and five community – and a dealer. The dealer will show five cards on the “flop” to everyone else in the table. The dealer is the player in “button position,” which means that the button passes to the player to the left. However, in professional games, the dealer always has the same button position. The strategy for choosing which cards to keep is to examine the table after the “flop.”
The basic hand rankings are based on the highest-ranked hands in the hand. Five of a kind is the highest hand possible. Generally, a five-of-a-kind hand will consist of four 10s plus one wild card. If you get more than one five-of-a-kind hand, the higher card wins. Despite the name of the game, this is not the case when you play poker online. But if you want to try your hand at the game, it’s well worth a try.