Gambling cruise. Poker

Blackjack has more than 300 varieties of the game, and the Great Wall of China was built with the money received from the game of Keno. A mechanic for the entertainment of his garage customers invented the first slot machines. That is how the original marketing ploy turned to become incredibly popular gambling game. How much more colourful and amazing things can be found in the gambling world?! We set off on a journey across the continents to learn new about familiar entertainments and learn to play unknown national games of different nations.

We'll start our journey from gambling America, with its numerous casinos and, of course, Poker. Despite the fact that this game has a great number of theories about its origin, the actual popularity it has received right in the United States.

From the very origins…

History of poker is uneasy to summarise because of the game antiquity, and numerous ambiguous facts. Therefore, there are legends about the game birth in China back in the 10th century, and theories that some basic elements of the game have much in common with the Persian gambling game of «As Nas». There also exist more versions about the origin of the collected name «Poker». Most researchers tend to the French roots that lead to the eighteenth century back to the game of «Poque». The other branch of the research results to the origins of the German game of «Pochspiel», which, by the way like a modern Poker, was based on bluff and showdowns. There is also a version about the semantic roots of the word «poke», which is like the magicians' expression «hocus-pocus».

Nevertheless, the very first American gambler Jonathan Green made actually the first written mention of the Poker game in 1834. «Deception Game» – so he called Poker in his essay, which described in details the rules of the game that got incredible popularity on the Mississippi riverboats. Poker has become much more popular than Three Card Monte – the main entertainment of that time – right after Green described an outlandish, but interesting «game of deception». Moreover, all the fans of gambling entertainments begin to treat Poker as a legal and fair game, just because it used more cards (20) than Monte.

People were returning to the «game of deception» again and again, and it was gaining momentum like a snowball, finally it resulted not just into the best gambling entertainment, but into the official sport in many countries as well.

The mechanism…

Most players suppose Poker to be very simple card game, where everything depends on luck. Still, professional sharpies opened us a few secrets. Even if the rules of the game are uncomplicated, winning has nothing to do with the luck. Poker is a strategy game, this is a game of skill and the advantage will always take the player, who can better understand the mathematical mechanisms occurring at the poker table.

We also collected a few effective tips-strategies of the Poker game, which will be useful for both beginners and seasoned players.

• Losing? Do not raise the bet – it never works.
• Try to watch the player’s cards from the right – it will help to avoid unnecessary cards exchanges.
• Inexperienced dealer will always expose himself. This will allow you to make a remark and demand cards retake, when you need that.
• Do not drink at the casino or while playing online, Poker loves a sober mind.
• The game is not about the cards, it is about the person.

Follow these simple rules and enjoy regular winnings!

Now our cruise turned to the East in search of new and interesting games … Soon we will write about our new gambling adventures in exotic country.