Poker

Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over whose hand is best under that specific game's rules, most often played with a standard 52-card deck, though shorter packs of 32, 40 or 48 cards are used in some countries. A round begins with forced initial bets, either blinds or antes, after which players in turn call the previous bet, raise it, or fold their hand, proceeding clockwise around the table; a player who folds forfeits any claim to the pot, and if every other player folds the one remaining player takes the pot without needing to reveal their cards, while two or more players still in after the final round of betting go to a showdown to determine the winner. Scholars trace possible ancestors to the French game poque and the Persian game As-Nas, and the game rose to prominence in the early 19th century aboard Mississippi riverboats around New Orleans; seven-card stud emerged by mid-century and spread through the United States military, and Texas hold 'em later became the dominant form in gambling venues. Television coverage of the game drove a surge in popularity known as the poker boom between 2003 and 2006, which turned poker from a recreational pastime played by small groups of enthusiasts into a widely popular activity.