History of Poker

History of Poker

The history of poker is a matter of some debate. The name of the game likely descended from the French poque, which descended from the German pochen ('to knock'), but it is not clear whether the origins of poker itself lie with the games bearing those names. It closely resembles the Persian game of as nas, and may have been taught to French settlers in New Orleans by Persian sailors. It is commonly regarded as sharing ancestry with the Renaissance game of primero and the French brelan. The English game brag (earlier bragg) clearly descended from brelan and incorporated bluffing (though the concept was known in other games by that time). It is quite possible that all of these earlier games influenced the development of poker as it exists now.

English actor Joseph Crowell reported that the game was played in New Orleans in 1829, with a deck of 20 cards, four players betting on which player's hand was the most valuable. Jonathan H. Green's book, An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling (G. B. Zieber, Philadelphia, 1843), described the spread of the game from there to the rest of the country by Mississippi riverboats, on which gambling was a common pastime.

Harry Truman's poker chips Soon after this spread, the full 52-card English deck was used, and the flush was introduced. During the American Civil War, many additions were made, including draw poker, stud poker (the five-card variant), and the straight. Further American developments followed, such as the wild card (around 1875), lowball and split-pot poker (around 1900), and community card poker games (around 1925). Spread of the game to other countries, particularly in Asia, is often attributed to the U.S. military.

The game and jargon of poker have become important parts of American culture and English culture. Such phrases as ace in the hole, ace up one's sleeve, beats me, blue chip, call one's bluff, cash in, high roller, pass the buck, poker face, stack up, up the ante, when the chips are down, wild card, and others are used in everyday conversation even by those unaware of their origins at the poker table.

Modern tournament play became popular in American casinos after the World Series of Poker began in 1970. It was also during that decade that the first serious strategy books appeared, notably The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky, Super System by Doyle Brunson (ISBN 0931444014), and The Book of Tells by Mike Caro .

Poker’s popularity has experienced an unprecedented spike in recent years, largely due to the introduction of online poker and the invention of the hole-card camera which finally turned the game into a spectator sport. Viewers can now follow the action and drama of the game, and broadcasts of poker tournaments such as the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour have brought in huge audiences for cable and satellite TV distributors.

Poker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poker

 

Pachinko

Pachinko is a Japanese gaming device. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but has no flippers and uses a large number of small balls. The player fires balls into the machine, which then cascade down through a dense forest of pins. If the balls go into certain locations, sequences of events are triggered that result in more balls being released; these balls can then be exchanged for prizes. Pachinko machines were originally strictly mechanical, but modern ones have incorporated extensive electronics, becoming similar to video slot machines.

The machines are widespread in establishments called parlors, which feature a number of slot machines; hence, they operate and look similar to casinos. Modern pachinko machines are highly customizable, keeping enthusiasts continuously entertained. Because gambling for cash is illegal in Japan, balls won cannot be exchanged directly for cash in the parlor; instead the balls are exchanged for tokens, which are then taken outside and exchanged for cash at a place nominally separate from the parlor and possibly run by organized crime.

As an indicator of the popularity of pachinko in Japan, Japanese government estimates of the annual turnover of the pachinko industry are in the region of 29 trillion yen. To put this in perspective, this is about twice the annual turnover of Japan's automobile industry, and approximately equivalent to the estimated annual turnover of the global narcotics trade.

Pachinko parlors are known for tweaking their machines to maximize their profits without intimidating customers, which means that most machines have different payout settings than what their manufacturers claim. The Japanese police can tolerate such manipulation as long as it happens outside of business hours; generally, those that cause a loss to the player are found in greater numbers.

Resetting of machines every day before opening hours is a feature of all parlors, because of the strict enforcement of closing times implying some players having to give up their machines when they hit a string of jackpots. Those whose machines are in payout mode at this time are allowed to collect their balls for the duration of the payout. Some parlors allow members to hold a particular machine across operating sessions. Timing is another factor in determining how parlors set their machines: holidays, when many people play pachinko, are favorable because many play it for leisure and the parlors are keen to attract them to come back for more. Weekends are unfavorable because the majority of players have only this time to play.

The layout of the different setting machines is a psychological method of attracting players; machines near the entrance are usually set at a high payout rate. When people walk by the parlor and see players at those machines with a large number of balls, they are more inclined to go inside and play the other machines even though they are at lower settings. For this purpose, many parlors employ "sakuras" to sit at these machines and emulate players winning a large number of balls; they are required to return these balls to the parlor free of charge minus their wages.

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Hands for Poker

Best Poker Hands

Royal Flush: An Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten in the same suit.
In the event of a tie:
Two or more Royal Flushes
split the poker pot.

Straight Flush: Five cards in sequence, of the same suit.
In the event of a tie:
Highest rank at the
top of the sequence wins.

Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank, and one side card.
In the event of a tie:
Highest four of a kind wins.
In community card games where players have the same four of a kind, the highest fifth side card ("kicker") wins.

Full House: Three cards of the same rank, and two cards of a different, matching rank.
In the event of a tie:
Highest three matching cards wins the pot. In community poker card games where players have the same three matching cards, the highest value of the two matching cards wins.

Flush: Five cards of the same suit.
In the event of a tie:
The poker player holding the highest ranked card wins. If necessary, the second-highest, third-highest, fourth-highest, and fifth-highest cards can be used to break the tie.

Straight: Five cards in sequence.

In the event of a tie:
Highest ranking card at the top of the sequence wins. Note: The Ace may be used at the top or bottom of the sequence, and is the only card in poker which can act in this manner.

Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same rank, and two unrelated side cards.

In the event of a tie:
Highest ranking three of a kind wins. In community card games where players have the same three of a kind, the highest side card, and if necessary, the second-highest side card wins.

Two Pair: Two cards of a matching rank, another two cards of a different matching rank, and one side card.
In the event of a tie: Highest pair wins. If players have the same highest pair, highest second pair wins. If both players have identical pairs, highest side card wins.

One Pair: Two cards of a matching rank, and three unrelated side cards.
In the event of a tie: Highest pair wins. If poker players have the same pair, the highest side card wins, and if necessary, the second-highest and third-highest side card can be used to break the tie.

High Card: Any hand that does not qualify under a category listed above
In the event of a tie: Highest card wins, and if necessary, the second-highest, third-highest, fourth-highest and smallest card can be used to break the tie.