Saturday, April 27, 2013

Stud Poker: A recreational game for fun


Poker is a world renowned game with familiarity and popularity at casinos, indoor sports, night clubs and other recreational sites. Moreover over the time, poker has found its own place online. There are so many online poker game sites that may be visited to play poker with other online gamer  There are different poker games that give ample choice to the players. Stud poker, draw poker, community card poker are a few variants of poker that are swooning people towards them.
The trend of online poker games have left the people at the comfort of their homes and play poker without any problems of going to casinos or night club where they have to go in the crowd and wait for their turn. Rather, sitting on the sofa they may play poker at the free time.
Stud poker is a most popular game that is played both online and offline. Stud poker is an interesting version of poker that involves multiple betting rounds with a group of players. At the start of the game the players receive cards of both face down and face up cards and the game continues with betting in every round. Stud poker is a game where the players get to bet first only when they have the best hand with respect to their face up cards, unless they do not get the lead in the game.
Stud poker games may be unlimited or pot limited. The limit may be fixed so that the structure and the number of the rounds of the game might be determined. For example a 4 betting round game may be well structured and be limitless or pot limit play. As the betting rounds increases the game becomes more structured and suitable for limit plans that may be fixed or spread. The game rules vary from country to country and casinos. Sometimes the higher betting round games involve higher limits than the others; this is because of the fact that as the betting rounds increases the limits also gets higher. In other variants if any 2 players together show up with a pair of upcards it becomes an open pair and the larger bets may be played in the second round.
During the game the betting rounds are given the name based on the number of cards the players hold when the round begins. Say for example if the players have 6 cards each then the betting round is termed as sixth card. The final round is called as a river or an end irrespective of the number of cards the players have.
There are different stud pokers based on the game play. They may be 5 card stud or 7 card stud. There are also sub variants of stud pokers such as alligator stud or zanetti stud. Some other forms of stud poker are Razz and London Lowball, 8 or better high low stud, high low stud, Mississippi stud, Mexican stud, aribbean stud, cowpie poker, number nine, baseball and many more. 

Poker: A mysterious game
Poker is a hobby that builds on to go out as a business. When you get together with your friends, a poker game can be fun, but when taken seriously you may make or break a lot of money. Poker is a number one game that is a cool thing to hang out in night clubs and casinos. As a choice of recreational game, it created a buzz in the parties, balls, casinos where men used to play and put a lot of money on it. Now poker does not remain just as a recreational game, rather its popularity has increased and reached the wider population with multimillion dollar prizes in so many national and international tournaments.
Poker games vary in the rules, number of players, game plan, and number of cards. They may be straight, stud poker, draw poker and community card poker, strip poker. Nowadays you don’t have to go to a casino for a poker game; there are so many online poker sites that can satiate your hunger for poker. The interest of large crowd has made it an online business with hole card cameras providing the game a huge speculation and spectator-ship  If you really want to give a try, play the poker game online at the comfort of your home. If not you may enjoy the players and the game on television and enjoy the action and suspense that is part of the game.
Basically a set of 52 cards sets up a small game of poker. But as the group strength increases so does the number of cards and complexity of the game. Poker is a betting game where the bidder is ranked in an order as the game goes on. With a combination of cards, many cards are shared with the players and some other cards remain a mystery till the end. The mystery of the game lies in what the other person may be having, what may be the combination the other person is sharing, what is the game plan that is on the bidders mind. There is lot to lose and lot to gain, but all depends on a strategy and sheer luck.
The game of poker involves lot of betting at every step. In the first step one of the player makes a forced bet called as the ante. In standard games every player bets stating they have the highest ranked hand. As the players go on bidding clockwise, he or she has to match or fold the bet. The betting round is terminated when all the players have matched or folded the bet. The player may either match or raise the bet. There comes a moment when there remains only one player folding the bet, the remaining player collects the pot. The player may decide whether to show or hide the hand from the other players. If more than one player remains after the rounds, the hands has to be revealed and the winner may take away the pot as a prize.


Poker for beginners:
Poker is a game that gives equal chance to the players. Poker has been a famous game played worldwide and over a period of time there have been a variety of games that are being played all over. In the beginning poker games were limited only to casinos, night clubs or pubs. But nowadays with the advent of internet, online poker games have been famous. With the online poker games, people may now play it comfortably at their houses. Nowadays there are also many online tournaments played where multi million dollars are staked for the sake of the game. Poker is not a simple child’s game; there are different types of poker that may be played such as straight poker, draw poker, stud poker, strip poker and community card poker. Each of these poker games differ from each other based on the game plan and rules, number of players and number of curds involved.
For beginners’ community card pokers are ideal as they are simple and can be played easily. One such community card game is Texas Hold’em Poker, and here now we shall go about the basics of the game. As a general poker game, Texas Hold’em Poker involves ante, blinds, and river. A community card poker can be played with 2 to 10 players at once. Of the many players, one player acts as a dealer and his position is called as a button. And the remaining players sit in a circle and start the rounds in clockwise direction. The 2 players sitting next to the dealer act as blinds- small blind and big blind respectively. These 2 positions have the privilege of being the ones that require forced bets with the previously resolved amount. These two players therefore have to put money into the pot before the cards are distributed.
Now the game begins with each player getting 2 face down cards called as hole cards. Soon after every player gets the hole cards, the players start to play, the player on the left to the big blind starts betting in the first round and has the privilege to fold, call or match the amount of the big blind.
Once the betting by the first player is over, the betting continues in a clockwise direction left to the subsequent players. These players may only fold or call the amount of the highest bet and raise them further. After all the players have finished betting, 3 community cards may be tossed face up to flop. This completes the first round of betting.
Next the play continues with second round of the betting, of the remaining players the one who is sitting left to the button starts betting which continues in clock wise direction left to the player. Again the cards are flipped at the end of the bettings, this time the fourth community card is tossed that is termed as turn. In the next betting round the same process continues ultimately ending with a river card face down in the last round. In the showdown, the hands are revealed and evaluated.


Poker: A game of skill and luck
Poker, is it a game of skill or luck? Poker is a game with a fair chance to the players pouring large amounts of money on stakes. Not a child’s play, poker is the game for someone who can smartly plan a game and outplay the remaining players. The deftest player seems to win the pot, but this remains a mystery as the game continues. Skill or luck, poker game has intrigued a many masses with its ability to gather a large popularity.
Poker is widely played offline and online in casinos and tournaments. The poker geeks glued in to the game run multi-million dollar business out of it. With lot of money on stake poker has indeed become very famous. Some of the poker games are draw poker, stud poker, and community card poker. Stud horse poker, oxford stud poker, high Chicago, low Chicago poker, follow the queen poker, countdown poker, billabong poker, Guts are other few specific variants of the game.
The game usually involves formation of hands based on the game rule. The 5 card hands of the individual players are compared and the highest ranked hand is decided to be the winner in many of the poker games, in others the lowest ranked hand may also win or tie. There are different hands such as full house, straight flush, flush and straight, four of a kind, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and high cards.
Poker is the game of betting, in a general poker game the players sitting in a circle bet in a clock wise fashion. The players in the process have many options such as check, open, fold, call or raise. These betting strategies are the driving force and factors determining the direction of the game. To choose one of these steps, sufficient brainstorming is done to analyze the movement of the cards and a little guess work. Sometimes the guess work pays, yet other times it may cost very sweetly to the players.
To check is to remain neutral without placing any bet, this is a strategy chosen when no other player has opened the betting round and you also choose not to open yet. Any player who makes the first bet is called an open bet. This way the betting round begins and the opening of the pot is also signified.
After the first bet is made, the remaining players have 3 options, either to fold, call or raise. When a call is made, the step is either to match the bet or raise. The fold option is taken to discard one’s hand and raise is a bet that enhances the previous bet
The game may or may not involve a forced bet called as Ante. In this forced bet, every player is supposed to put same quantity of money or chips into the pot to begin the deal. Another forced bet is blinds. A blind bet is nothing but the forced bet that is placed in the pot by the players. 

Draw poker: A an intriguing positional poker game
Poker is the name that is on everyone’s mouth. May it be a professional player or a recreational player, poker is fun, interesting and a good time turner. If luck meets the player, it is surely a life turner. Poker is a game of cards that involve multiple players glued to the game that involves multiple rounds and multiple betting.
Of the many variants of poker, draw poker has got a plenty of people eyeing their interests and money on it. Draw poker is a game where the player has to have a complete hand before the first betting round begins. On the contrary, the player may have to withdraw from the game. Further as the game proceeds, the player develops the hand in every round by either drawing the cards or replacing them. Draw poker is a type of poker where the game is very positional.
When the player is well versed with the game of poker and its structure, draw poker becomes very easy for him. The game is simple when it is a home play but it becomes critical at professional level. In the casinos, instead of antes, blinds are preferred. The initial betting round is ensued with the player who is left to the big blind. In the next betting rounds, the game is started with the player who is left to the dealer.
When the player is new to draw poker, it is better to start with a standard 5 card draw game. Though this version is getting outdated in the casinos and tournaments, playing this game gives a basic knowledge about the draw poker. Other versions of draw poker are Gardena jackpots, California low ball, Kansas City low ball, double draw, triple draw, Bagudi or Padooki, Baduci, California high split or California low split, high or low with declare, four before, Johnson or jacks back and Q-ball. These draw poker games are played at a very serious stakes in the casinos and in tournaments. There are other draw poker games that are simply played at home at smaller stakes. Home draw poker games are shot gun, spit in the ocean,             anaconda and many other ad hoc games.
Gardena jackpots: This version of draw poker is based on the standard hand values and most played worldwide. The game is played with ante and only one joker that are used as a bug. There are no blinds used in the game. In the game, the betting begins only when the players get a pair of jacks or a better hand. In case the game never tends open, a new deal is started with every antes into the pot. The player who is ready to open the game may if necessary prove the opening hand. The opening player may then have the privilege to break openers simply by throwing the jack of hearts so that he may make the club flush. This game was extremely popular in the city of Gardena, California.  

Author, 
Poornima, M Malagi. 
Profuse blogger and Expert Ezine writer.