Casino Games: Poker

The History of Poker

The early history of Poker is relatively unknown. According to some, the roots of the game go all the way back to a 16th century Persian card game played with 25 cards in five different colours. Poker as we now know it arose in New Orleans around the 1820s. Who it was that invented it remains unclear, but the fundamentals to the game can be found in earlier European card games such as the French “Pogue”, “Brag”, “Pochspeil” and “Bouillotte”, and the Persian card game “As-nas”. It is speculated that Persian sailors taught their game to French settlers in New Orleans and the settlers later developed it further.

The history of Poker can be divided into three periods of popularity: Draw Poker, Seven-card Stud and Texas Hold’em. Draw poker was the most popular until the 1920s when it was superceded by Seven-card Stud. Seven-card Stud kept its enormous popularity until the beginning of the 1980s when Hold’em then became the game of choice; likely due to its TV exposure.

Playing Poker

Below we have explained generic poker rules; the rules that apply for all types of Poker games. All Poker games use a regular 52-card deck and the cards are ranked from highest to lowest as follows: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace (Ace can be ranked as both high and low depending on the game). The different suits are equally ranked (Harts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs).

The goal is to get the best hand possible with five cards in accordance with the following ranking of hands (highest to lowest):

The ultimate hand: Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten suited.

Odds are 1 in 650,000.

Straight Flush

A suited straight: Five cards in the same suit and sequential order.

Odds are 1 in 72,000.

Four of a kind

Four cards of the same value.

Odds are 1 in 4,200.

Full House

Three of a kind together with a pair. The three of a kind is counted first.

Odds are 1 in 700.

Flush

Five cards in the same suit.

Odds are 1 in 510.

Straight

Five cards, not suited but in numerical order.

Odds are 1 in 250.

Three of a kind

Three cards of the same value (number).

Odds are 1 in 48.

Two pair

Two sets of pairs.

Odds are 1 in 21.

Pair

Two cards of the same value (number).

Odds are 1 in 2.4.

High card

The highest card wins if no-one has any of the above hands.