Dictionary of Meaning

<<Back
Please select a letter:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0-9

Poker

*** Shopping-Tip: Poker
{{about|the card game|the domestic fireplace tool|fireplace poker}} '''Poker''' is a card game, the most popular of a class of games called ''vying games'', in which players with fully or partially concealed cards make wagers into a central ''pot'', which is awarded to the player or players with the best combination of cards or to the player who makes an uncalled bet. Poker can also refer to video poker which is a single player game seen in casinos much like a slot machine, or to other games that use poker hand rankings.

Game play
While the game of poker is played in hundreds of List of poker variants variations, most follow the same basic pattern of play. The right to deal each hand typically rotates among the players and is marked by a token called a "buck (poker) buck" or "button". In a casino a house dealer handles the cards for each hand, but a button (typically a white plastic disk) is rotated among the players to indicate a nominal dealer to determine the order of betting. For each hand, one or more players are required to make Betting (poker)#Forced bets forced bets to create an initial stake for which the players will contest. The dealer shuffles the cards, he or another player cut (playing cards) cuts, and the appropriate number of cards are dealt to the players one at a time. After this initial deal, the first of what may be several betting (poker) betting rounds begins. Between rounds, the players' hands develop in some way, often by being dealt additional cards or replacing cards previously dealt. At the end of each round, all bets are gathered into the central pot. More details can be found in the article on betting (poker) betting. At any time during the first or subsequent betting rounds, if any player makes a bet, all other players are required to match it or to surrender their cards and forfeit their interest in the pot. If one player bets and no other player chooses to match the bet, the deal ends immediately, the bettor is awarded the pot, no cards are shown, and the next deal begins. This is what makes bluff (poker) bluffing possible, and is a primary feature of the game that distinguishes it from other vying games and from other games that make use of poker hand rankings. At the end of the last betting round, if more than one player remains, there is a showdown (poker) showdown in which the players reveal their previously hidden cards and evaluate their Poker hand hands. The player with the best hand according to the poker variant being played wins the pot. Details about the order of play and hand rankings for the most common variants can be found in the articles on betting (poker) betting, hand (poker) hand rankings, and List of poker variants poker variants. Most popular poker variants can be loosely classified as draw poker, stud poker, or community card poker (a.k.a. "widow games"), miscellaneous poker games exist as well. The most commonly played games in these categories are five-card draw, seven-card stud, and Texas hold 'em, respectively; each being a common starting point for learning games of the type.

History
The history of poker is a matter of some debate. The name of the game likely descended from the French language French ''poque'', which descended from the German language 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 Iran 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 England English game ''Three card brag 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. As it spread up the Mississippi and West during the gold rush it is thought to have become a part of the frontier, pioneering ethos. Image:Truman poker chips.jpg Harry_Truman.html" title="Meaning of frame frame|right|[[Harry Truman's poker chips.html" title="Meaning of right|[[Harry Truman">frame|right|[[Harry Truman's poker chips">right|[[Harry Truman">frame|right|[[Harry Truman's poker chips Soon after this spread, the full 52-card English deck was used, and the flush (poker) flush was introduced. During the American Civil War, many additions were made, including draw poker, stud poker (the five-card variant), and the Straight (poker) straight. Further American developments followed, such as the Wild card (poker) wild card (around 1875), lowball and High-low split 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 United States armed forces U.S. military. The game and Poker jargon 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'', ''buck (poker) 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 Poker tournament 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 (ISBN 1880685000), ''Super System'' by Doyle Brunson (ISBN 0931444014), and ''The Book of Tells'' by Mike Caro (ISBN 0897461002). Pokerâ€™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.

Computer players
The game of poker (or at least most of the variants) is considered to be Computational complexity theory computationally intractable. However, methods are being developed to at least approximate perfect strategy from the combinatorial game theory perspective in the heads-up (two player) game, and increasingly good systems are being created for the multi-player or ring game. Perfect strategy has multiple meanings in this context. From a game-theoretic optimal point of view, a perfect strategy is a minimax one that cannot expect to lose to any other player's strategy; however, optimal strategy can vary in the presence of sub-optimal players who have weaknesses that can be exploited. In this case, a perfect strategy would be one that correctly or closely models those weaknesses and takes advantage of them to make a profit. Some of these systems are based on Bayes theorem, Nash equilibrium, Monte Carlo simulation, and Neural networks. A large amount of the research is being done at the University of Alberta by the GAMES group led by Jonathan Schaeffer who developed Computer poker players Poki and PsOpt. One major aspect of poker is being a game of Perfect information imperfect information. Some cards in play are concealed, so the players cannot deduce the exact state the game is in. This fundamentally differs from games like chess where all information about the game's current state is public. A major part of the skill of live poker games, however, is guessing at the strength of a player's hand by identifying Tell_(poker) tells made by other players, while concealing one's own. As a computer would not make any physical tells, playing against a computer would necessitate reading tells only from the bets placed. Once the 'mind' of the computer is known it can exploited. Although you cannot read a computer opponent, playing against computer opponents can still help you sharpen your skills by learning how to count outs and play the percentages. With the advancing technology of artificial intelligence, computer players can be created to incorporate bluffs and other human-like decisions.

Quotations
{{wikiquote}} ''Poker is a microcosm of all we admire and disdain about capitalism and democracy. It can be rough-hewn or polished, warm or cold, charitable and caring or hard and impersonal. It is fickle and elusive, but ultimately it is fair, and right, and just.'' â€” Lou Krieger ''If you can't spot the sucker within the first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.'' â€” common poker saying, as spoken by Matt Damon in ''Rounders (movie) Rounders''; originally attributed to Amarillo Slim ''Whether he likes it or not, a man's character is stripped bare at the poker table; if the other players read him better than he does, he has only himself to blame. Unless he is both able and prepared to see himself as others do, flaws and all, he will be a loser in cards, as in life.'' â€” Anthony Holden (from ''Big Deal'') ''There are few things that are so unpardonably neglected in our country as poker... Why, I have known clergymen, good men, kindhearted, liberal, sincere, and all that, who did not know the meaning of a 'flush'. It is enough to make one ashamed of one's species.'' â€” Mark Twain ''Nobody is always a winner, and anybody who says he is, is either a liar or doesn't play poker.'' â€” Amarillo Slim ''They anticipate losing when they sit down and I try my darnedest not to disappoint one of them.'' â€” Amarillo Slim ''Poker is a game of people... It's not the hand I hold, it's the people that I play with.'' â€” Amarillo Slim ''Texas hold 'em Hold 'em is to stud poker stud what chess is to checkers.'' â€” Johnny Moss ''The guy who invented poker was bright, but the guy who invented the chip was a genius.'' â€” Big Julie ''Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house (poker) full house and four people died.'' â€” Steven Wright ''Cards are war, in disguise of a sport.'' â€” Charles Lamb, ''Essays of Elia'' (1832) ''Poker is a godless game, full of random pain.'' â€” Andy Bloch ''You call this one and it's all over, baby.'' â€” Scotty Nguyen, during the 1998 World Series of Poker. Down to him and one other player, he said this to his opponent who called, and it was all over. ''Luck favours the backbone, not the wishbone.'' â€” Doyle Brunson Mae West: ''Is poker a game of chance?'' W.C. Fields: ''Not the way I play it.'' â€” My Little Chickadee ''Sometimes nothing can be a pretty cool hand.'' â€” Cool Hand Luke, showing his stone-cold bluff after winning a 7-card stud pot ''The game exemplifies the worst aspects of capitalism that have made our country so great.'' - Walter Matthau

References
{{wikibookspar|Poker|Poker}} * {{cite book | author = Brunson, Doyle | year = 1979 | title = Doyle Brunson's Super System | publisher = Cardoza | id = ISBN 1580420818 }} * {{cite book | author = Sklansky, David | year = 1989 | title = The Theory of Poker (3rd Ed) | publisher = Two Plus Two Publications | id = ISBN 1880685000}} * {{cite book | author = Vorhaus, John | year = 2002 | title = Killer Poker | publisher = Lyle Stuart | id = ISBN 0818406305}} * {{cite book | author = Ernest, James; Selinker, Mike; Foglio, Phil | year = 2005 | title = Dealer's Choice: The Complete Handbook of Saturday Night Poker | publisher = Overlook Press | id = ISBN 1585676543}} * {{cite book | author = Caro, Mike | year = 1978 | title = Caro's Book of Poker Tells | publisher = Cardoza | id = ISBN 1580420826}}

See also
Image:Casino poker.jpg thumb|250px|right|Poker Room at the Trump Taj Mahal *Poker jargon *Online poker *Poker strategy *Poker probability **Poker probability (Texas hold 'em) *Poker tournament **Major poker tournaments *List of poker players *Playing cards *Cheating in poker *Rule variations (poker) Rule variations *List of poker related topics *Game theory *Combinatorial game theory *Game complexity

External links

- Yahoo Poker Directory
- Google Poker Directory
- Rec.Gambling.Poker Newsgroup Category:Poker bg:ÐŸÐ¾ÐºÐµÑ€ da:Poker de:Poker es:PÃ³quer eo:Pokero fr:Poker gl:PÃ³quer it:Poker he:×¤×•×§×¨ nl:Poker ja:ãƒ?ãƒ¼ã‚«ãƒ¼ no:Poker pl:Poker pt:PÃ´quer ro:Poker ru:ÐŸÐ¾ÐºÐµÑ€ simple:Poker sl:Poker fi:Pokeri sv:Poker zh:æ’²å…‹ {{sisterlinkswp|Category:Poker}} Articles relating to the game of poker. Category:Card games Category:Gambling eo:Kategorio:Pokero fr:CatÃ©gorie:Poker {| class="messagebox standard-talk" style="text-align:center;" |- |Image:Crystal Clear app Cardgame.png 90px |''This article is part of ''' :WikiProject Poker''', an attempt at building a useful poker resource. If you would like to participate, you can choose to [{{SERVER}}{{localurl:{{PAGENAME}}|action=edit}} edit the article] attached to this page (see :Contributing FAQ for more information).'' |- style="background:#FFEFDF; font-size: 85%;" | colspan="2" |

[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Poker&action=edit edit]

|- |} Category:WikiProject templates {{PAGENAME}}

*** Shopping-Tip: Poker