Poker at Atlantic City Casinos

About Poker

Poker was first introduced into North America by the French, who brought the card game they called "poque" to Canada. French and Canadian settlers later brought poker to New Orleans. It spread up the Mississippi on riverboats, and then throughout the west during the gold rush. Almost all western movies included saloon scenes, with card sharks playing poker. Over the years, the game spread throughout the United States. The popularity of poker continues to grow, presently accelerated by it being picked up and promoted by the television studios as a pseudo sporting event.

Numerous variations of poker have evolved, the most popular being: Texas Hold'Em, 5 Card Draw and Seven Card Stud. Others often played are: Omaha, Razz and
Eight-or-better. Some gambling tournaments feature an event called H.O.R.S.E., which includes Hold'Em, Omaha, Razz, Seven Card Stud, and Eight or better.

Texas Hold'Em is the most popular game, and is the game most featured in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournaments. Hold'Ems popularity is due to the fact that it is realatively fast moving and easy to watch.

In Hold'Em, each player is dealt 2 private cards down, called hole or pocket cards. A round of betting called the "pre-flop" ensues, where the players either bet or drop out. The dealer then deals 3 cards, called the "flop", "up" that can be seen. The up cards are often referred to as community cards, as all the players share them. Each player then has a 5 card hand consisting of his 2 hole cards and the 3 dealt up cards. A round of betting following the flop takes place, where players either bet or drop out. The dealer then deals 1 more up card, called the turn. Players again bet, or drop out, based on their 5 card hand made up of their 2 hole cards and 3 of the 4 up community cards. A 5th and final community up card, called the
river card is dealt. A final round of betting takes place, followed by the "showdown". The player with the highest ranking hand consisting of his 2 hole cards and the 3 of the 5 up community cards he chooses, wins the hand.

As there are at the most, 4 rounds of betting, the game moves fast as each hand takes little time. Another factor that adds to the games popularity is that the TV producers have introduced the hole-card-camera or pocket-camera, that lets the TV viewers see the players hole cards. This makes it most interesting, as viewers try to anticipate what each player will do, and what strategy he will follow. The viewers can see if a player is bluffing, or not.