What is Poker?
[[File:US Navy 090620-N-2798F-033 Sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3 compete in a Texas Hold 'Em Poker tournament aboard Harry S. Truman.jpg|thumb|A [[Texas hold 'em]] match in progress. Hold 'em is a popular form of poker in the [[USA]].]] '''Poker''' is a game which people play with a normal set (or ''deck'') of 52 [[playing cards|cards]]. Poker is a [[gambling]] game which involves some luck, but also some skill. In poker, players make bets against each other depending on the value of their poker [[hand]]. Bets are usually made with plastic or ceramic discs called ''chips''. Bets may also be made with coins or cash, but chips are more often used because they are easier to handle and count. At the end of the game, players may swap their chips for money. If the players are not playing for real money, the chips are counted at the end of the game to determine the order of winners. There are many different kinds of poker. In [[draw poker]], each player is dealt five cards. A player can decide to throw away a number of these cards and then take (''draw'') new cards to replace them. In stud poker (for example, [[seven-card stud]]), some of each player's cards are laid (''face-up'') on the table so that the other players can see them. In community card poker (for example, [[Texas hold 'em]]), players share some of their cards in the center of the table.<ref>Reuben, Stewart 2001. ''Starting out in Poker''. London: Everyman/Mind Sports. ISBN 1-85744-272-5 Basic teaching text, explains terms, gives advice.</ref> ==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|Persia]]n game of ''as nas'', and may have been taught to French settlers in [[New Orleans