Our Poker Guide brings you the history, basics and poker hands.

The history of Poker is thought to have evolved over more than ten centuries from various games, all involving the basic principals of ranked card or domino combinations and the use of ‘bluffing’ to deceive opponents.

One popular belief is that a game similar to poker was first invented by the Chinese sometime before 969 A.D, when The Emperor Mu-tsung is reported to have played “domino cards” with his wife on new years eve.

It is also written, Egyptians in the 12th & 13th centuries were known to have used a particular form of playing cards, and in 16th century Persia “Ganjifa” or “Treasure Cards” were used for most betting games. A Ganjifa deck consisted of 96 designed cards, made from paper thin slices of ivory or precious wood. The Persians played a game called “As Nas” which utilized 25 cards, where rounds of betting are arranged in order of rank.

In 1834, Jonathan H. Green made one of the earliest written references to poker as the “cheating game,” which was being played on Mississippi riverboats. The Cheating Game quickly began to replace the popular card game of 3-card monte on the gambling circuit. Gamers embraced the new game as it was perceived as a more challenging gamble than the notoriously rigged 3-card game.

During the Wild West period of history, all saloons had Poker tables in just about every town from coast to coast. Extremely popular during the Civil War, the soldiers of both armies played this game.

In 1970 the first Poker Tournament; “The World Series of Poker” (WSOP) was organized in Las Vegas. This tournament has grown ever since and is today the most prestigious poker event in the world. The prize pot of the “WSOP” 2010 was $187,000,000 and 72,966 players from 117 different countries participated and tried to win the golden bracelets.

In the seventies books containing poker strategy were published like “The Theory of Poker” by David Sklansky. The first real money online poker room, Planet Poker, was launched in 1998 and today you can find more than 50,000 cash players per day at the biggest poker site PokerStars. The latest development in poker is the introduction of poker software for your handheld devices. Switch Poker is offering cash poker on iPhone, so you can play whenever and wherever you are. Poker has really come a long way from the Chinese Emperor Mu-tsung to your own mobile device.

The Basics To Playing Online Poker

• The objective of Poker is to obviously win the pot, and to do this you need to have the highest ranking hand, or be a good con artist by bluffing the other players into folding by making them believe you have the winning hand. To do this it will depend on the actual game you are playing, as there are a number of different Poker games, and each one has their own combination for the best win. Online Poker has become extremely popular, and there are a great many strategies available to suit each game. Also available Online is Multi hand Video Poker where you could play as many as 100 games simultaneously – however a game like this is played automatically by the computer.
• For beginners wanting to play online, it would be advisable to select a recommended Poker room that offers free poker games – this will give you the opportunity to get the feel of the game, or better still, once you have signed up, which will not cost you anything unless you intend on wagering, click onto an active table and watch the game in progress and how it is played.
• The game starts with the dealer handing out the cards clockwise from his/ her left. As soon as the cards are dealt, the players then have four options. You could check the bet (bet nothing but still remain in the game), call the previous bet (bet the same amount as the previous bet), raise the previous bet (increase the amount of the previous bet), or fold (giving up a chance to win the pot by not matching a bet and relinquishing your cards).
• The game continues as soon as all the players had a chance to act. The dealer will lay three cards face up on the table. These cards are called community cards and the players can use those to make the highest possible hand. Below you can find an overview of the Rank of Poker Hands starting with the highest hand. The players have again the chance to check, bet or fold and then the fourth card is dealt face up, followed by another betting round. After the fifth card, the last card, is dealt face up, the players have a last chance to bet.
• final part of the game is called the Showdown and all the players that are still in hand will have the opportunity to show their cards to the other players, to see who has the highest hand. If you have a lower hand than the winner, you have the opportunity to Muck your hand, which means that you throw your cards face down to the middle of the table, so no one will know which cards you held. The option to Muck your hand is available at most Texas Hold em poker sites so your competitors can not use this information to determine your playing style.

Rank of Poker Hands

Royal Flush
Five cards in sequence from the 10 to the Ace of the same suit.
Straight Flush
Five cards in sequence of the same suit.
Four of a Kind
Four cards of the same rank, for example four Aces.
Full House
Three cards of the same rank plus 2 cards of another rank. For example 2 Kings and 3 Jacks (also called Kings full of Jacks).
Flush
Five cards of the same suit (not in order). The highest card determines the value of the hand. For example Ace-high Flush.
Straight
Five cards in sequence of different suits. The Ace could be used as the highest or lowest card, for example Five-high Straight, which is the lowest straight.
Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same rank, for example Three-of-a-kind tens.
Two Pair
Two cards of the same rank plus another two cards of the same rank. For example two Queens and two Nines. The highest card determines the value of the hand rank.
One Pair
Two cards of the same rank.
High Card
When the players have none of the above combinations, the player with the highest card is the winner, for example with the King (which beats all lower cards).