Anybody who hasn’t heard of the poker game? Anybody who hasn’t played a round of poker game?i think not. Even celebrities nowadays participate in celebrity poker games. But who knows how poker came about? In truth, there is a dilemma as to who can lay claim for the birth of this card game. The French have it ‘poque’ which descended from the Germans’ ‘pochen’ which means “to knock”. However, it can be contested that it could have originated from the Persian game of ‘as nas’ that could have been taught to the French settlers by Persian sailors in New Orleans. However poker came about, everybody is playing it and loving the challenge. Poker rules therefore are extremely important since you might be betting your car keys already, for all you know. The poker rules guides the green horn on how to lose graciously the first few deals. Thus learning to play a good game of poker is expensive.

We need to know the basics on how to play poker, the poker rules according to the poker variant, poker etiquette and poker hands to be able to passably play. Winning is everything in poker since this is a mind game more than anything else.

First off, we need to clarify the different poker game variants to know which poker rules need to be in play. There are many variants to the poker game but the more universal poker game variants are: draw poker, stud poker, widow poker game, and miscellaneous poker games (which include Stud Horse poker, Oxford stud, Billabong (and Shanghai), Guts, and Blind Man’s Bluff). However, the most commonly played poker games for the first three variants are the five-card draw, seven-card stud, and the Texas hold ‘em.

Since this is the most played poker game variant, poker rules for the five-card draw are generally easy to remember. It is assumed that you basically know the general poker game play, the hand values and the betting system. Poker rules differ from the home-style games to the more formal games as played in the casinos. For formal games blinds are commonly used while for home games, it is more typical use an ante. Ante is where the first betting round starts from the player to the dealer’s left, then the second round betting begins with the player who opened or made the first non-zero betting in the preceding round.

A common house rule in playing five card draw in home or social games is that a player can not replace more than three cards, unless he holds an ace or a wile card so that the deck stub will not be easily depleted. Another common house rule is that the last card in the deck stub is not dealt anymore to ensure that anybody who might have seen it will not use that information.

In the seven card stud, poker rules are a bit more complex than the five card draw since two to eight players can play. The only poker rule to remember, (better make it your mantra) is two down, four up, one down. This is the lay of the cards and not meant to mean something else.

The third most commonly played poker game is the Texas hold ‘em. The poker rules here are the same with the first two but what makes this different is the introduction of lipstick cameras where spectators were able to view each player’s cards.

Definitely, we’ve seen that poker rules changes a bit depending on the game of poker being played. Now that we’ve learned the different poker rules, playing it like the pros would be as easy as pie.

By: Nicholas Tan

Who has not heard of a game of poker? Is there someone who has not played a round of poker game? There would not be many. Some celebrities too participate in several celebrity poker games. Not many know about the coming up of poker? In reality, there is some dilemma about who could lay the claim about the birth of the poker game. The French call it ‘poque’ which came from Germans’ ‘pochen’ meaning “to knock”. However, it could be contested about having originated from Persian game ‘as nas’ that might have been told to French settlers by the Persian sailors in the New Orleans. However, the game of poker came about, and all are playing and loving its challenge. Poker rules are therefore, extremely important since one might bet their car keys already, for all they know. These poker rules would guide the green horn about graciously losing the initial few deals. Hence, learning to play one good poker game is quite expensive.

One must know the basics about playing poker. The game must go according to poker rules as per the poker variants, poker etiquettes and poker hands so that the play gets implemented. Winning is the entire end in poker as this is more of a mind game than anything else.

At the outset, we should clarify the different games of poker or the variants to see which poker rule needs to be in the play. There are several variants in the poker game; however, the universal poker game variants are: widow poker, stud poker, draw poker and other miscellaneous poker games that include Stud Horse poker, Billabong, Oxford stud and Shanghai, Blind Man’s Bluff and Guts. The most usually played poker games for initial three variants are seven-card stud, five-card draw, and Texas holds ‘em.

As this is the commonly played variant of poker game, the poker rules for five-card draw are often easy to remember. The assumption is that you fundamentally know the general game of poker, all hand values and betting system. Poker rules always differ from any home-style games to any of the other formal games which are played in the casinos. For formal games, the blinds are usually used but for home games, an ante is typically used. Ante is the place where the initial betting round starts often from the player towards the left of the dealer. Then second round betting starts with the player whoever opened or made the very first non-zero betting act in previous round.

One common house rule when playing the five card draw in social games or home is that any player can’t replace more than 3 cards, unless he has an ace or the wile card so as to not easily deplete the deck stub. A common house rule says that the card last in the deck stub would not be dealt to ensure anyone who has seen it would not use the information.

Within seven card stud, the poker rules are bit more complex compared to five card draw as two to eight players could play. The mere poker rule to know and could better make it as the mantra; it is two down, four up, one down. It is lay of cards and is never meant to mean anything else.

Third most often played game of poker is Texas hold ‘em. Poker rules are the same here too, with the first 2 but what has this different is introduction of the lipstick cameras where all spectators are able to see each other’s cards.

It is apparent that we have seen that the poker rules change a bit depending up on the type of poker game being played. As now that we know the different rules in poker, playing it just like the pros will be quite easy as a pie.

By: Abhishek Agarwal