Poker is one of the card games that are part of the betting practices in the society. Players engage in many tricks and tactics even hiding cards in order to emerge the winner. Pokers are highly diversified and there exists several variants of the game in different parts of the world. The game varies with the number of card dealt as well as cards that can remain hidden till the end of the game. Players often dictate the limits of bets that can be placed or played in a single game. Poker is known to be among one of the oldest games and has existed in various forms in most societies throughout history.
A standard game of poker involves players betting with one of the participants making what is known as forced bet or ante. After this the betting proceeds in a clockwise direction round the table, players are either expected to match the bet or maximize it. Poker has become quite a popular game especially since the beginning of the 20th century.
Initially the game was played without bets as a form of entertainment. Males have been dominating the game for a long time but their female counterparts have caught on and become quite proficient in the game. Poker is at times played on an international level where various participants engage each other in multi-million dollar competitions.
Poker was first reported as a game in New Orleans in the 1800s where the deck used to have at least 20 cards. This is only the historically recorded fact which does not mean that poker did not exist before then. With time the practice spread and gained enough popularity in most countries thus making poker a universal game. As the game spread around the world more variants of the game emerged as new decks were introduced in the game.
At the same time books and paperbacks were written on to indicate the rules, skills and strategies used in the game. At the onset of the 1990s poker began taking root almost in every state in the US as the practice of betting and gambling as favorite pastime spread all over the country. Poker can either be played as a casual pastime or a do or die game. In casual play participants often don’t need to bet, though in some instance players bet.