Poker is one of the most popular games that have managed to capture the hearts of a lot of people. It is one of the most popular games on land and at the same time it is also one of the most popular games online. Poker is a family of casino-type card games where players bet over which hand is most likely to win based on the rules of the particular game. There are various poker variants such as Stud, Hold’Em, and Lowball where in the same way players play against each other in these variants, they also try to accumulate the highest score in the poker games.

Online Poker has also managed to attract a number of spectators who watch professional poker matches. Apart from the games on land, there are also online tournaments that pit one poker player against another in a bid to reach the top. One can even go to a poker tournament in one’s own country and participate in one to gain some experience before taking the plunge into real poker gambling. There are a number of websites where one can play poker for free.

As far as the antecedents of poker games are concerned, the earliest mention of poker comes from the card games like Charades and Scrabble. These games evolved from the medieval Italian card game called Siciliano that used a dice throw system to determine the outcome. Later this system was replaced by betting whereby one would wager a sum of money that one could not actually lose. With time the system has been further refined to better regulate the outcomes of the game. Today poker is played with a deck of cards consisting of fifty two cards, four cards that signify the four suits of playing card, and one king that signifies the winning bid.

The antecedents of poker games on land go as far back as the fifteen hundreds of years from the fifteenth century. Early Chinese literature has also come up with several references to the game. It was later referred to as “hundred hands” by the Portuguese. One of the most prominent figures in poker history is none other than George Plimpton who is considered to be the first true professional poker player. He played this game for fun and even ended up winning more money than he lost! In fact he went on to establish a company that produced a whole line of cards called the Plimpton Playing Cards.

Today, poker is enjoyed across the world by millions of people who play these games for fun or even for stakes. Some games may use special betting mechanisms to determine the outcome while others may rely solely on the skills of the players. There is no denying the fact that poker is one of the most popular casino games around. The Internet has even made the game available to all who wish to play.

It is not difficult to find many sites that offer online poker where one can play against the computer. These types of games allow players to hone their skills without ever leaving their homes. There are several well known and experienced sites that have been in the business for years that offer both online and land based poker tournaments that are open to players at all skill levels.