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- DRAW POKER
-
-
- Poker, known in some circles as "The Great American Game",
- actually originated in the United States! It became popular
- among the Cajuns and French of New Orleans in the 1800's. At
- that time they called the card game "poque", likely from the
- French word "pocher" meaning "to bluff". As the game worked
- its way north by way of Mississippi steamboats the name came
- to be known as "poker", probably because of mispronunciation.
- Poker is loosely based on card games which date back as far
- as the fifteenth century. There are many forms of today's
- game including Spit-in-the-Ocean, Criss-Cross, Michigan, Base-
- ball, High-Low, Showdown and Stud. But the most popular is
- Draw Poker.
-
-
- THE GAME
-
- Draw Poker is played with a fifty-two card deck, the
- Jokers being discarded. All players "ante" an amount which
- has been previously agreed upon. The dealer shuffles then
- five cards each are delt to the players, one at a time, face
- down, in turn to the left of the dealer. After inspecting the
- hand delt him, each player to the left of the dealer receives
- the opportunity to bet, raise, see, or fold. A player "sees" a
- bet by matching it, in order to stay in the game. After seeing
- a bet, a player may "raise" the bet, requiring all who wish to
- continue to see the raise. Usually, seeing and raising are
- combined as raising. Those not wishing to continue, "fold" and
- forfeit all amounts bet. After all betting is complete and each
- remaining player has seen the last bet, each player to the left,
- in turn from the last to see, may discard up to five cards and
- draw new ones as replacements in order to better his odds of
- winning. A player who discards none "stands pat". When each
- player has drawn or stood pat, the last to see starts a new
- round of betting. Play is finished when all but one player have
- folded or when one player "calls" the bet. The player with the
- highest hand wins the pot and becomes the dealer.
-
-
- SCORING
-
- There are no points awarded in Poker. It is usually
- played with money or chips representing money instead. Hands
- are valued from least to highest in order as follows:
-
- High Card:
- The highest valued card held wins the hand. Deuce is low
- and Ace is high. (If all cards in all hands match, the highest
- suit wins. Ace of spades is high, then Hearts, Diamonds, and
- Clubs. Lowest card is the two of Clubs.)
-
- A Single Pair:
- The highest valued pair wins. Again, Deuce low - Ace high.
- To break a tie, the next highest single card wins.
-
- Two Pair:
- The highest combination wins. In the case of a tie, the
- next highest single card wins.
-
- Three-of-a-kind:
- The highest threesome wins.
-
- Straight:
- The highest five cards in sequence, but not all of the same
- suit...Ace may be high or low to make the sequence. Tie is
- broken by the highest high-card's suit.
-
- Flush:
- The highest five cards held in a single suit. Ties are broken
- as with the Straight.
-
- Full House:
- The highest combination of Three-of-a-kind and a Pair. Ties
- are broken by highest three-of-a-kind.
-
- Straight Flush:
- The highest five cards of a single suit, in sequence. Tie is
- broken by the highest suit.
-
- Royal Flush:
- Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten of a single suit. Highest
- suit wins in case of a tie.
-
-
- LAS VEGAS DRAW POKER
-
- Draw Poker as played in Las Vegas allows a draw of only
- three cards and requires that a player have a pair of Jacks
- or better in his hand. Players not meeting this requirement must
- fold and forfeit their ante, which is usually a quarter.
-
- The maximum bet in Las Vegas Draw Poker is usually five
- dollars. Raises may be considered as bets or may not be
- specified, depending on the house. Most casinos allow only three
- raises. Some, however, allow five before the player in turn must
- see, call or fold.
-
- USING THE KEYBOARD
-
- VALUES: 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,1,J,Q,K,A. SUITS: S,H,D,C. "1"
- is equal to 10. Press <ESC>, "Q", or Ctrl Break to Quit midgame.
-
-
- COMPUTER DRAW POKER
-
- The computer game is played as Five Card Draw Poker
- with no requirements for opening bet and no limit. Both the
- player and the computer start with 1000 "chips". Each antes
- one chip before cards are dealt. Three raises per round are
- allowed in the computer version of the game.
-
- This game is designed to allow the computer to act as
- both tutor and player. It does not look at your hand to make
- playing descisions and doesn't remember any of the cards
- in your hand when it does check them. It checks your hand
- only to see that you are playing the game properly. When
- you are in a rule-breaking situation, it will display a message
- to help you to get it right. It also displays messages to
- direct you when to bet, see, raise, call, fold, discard and
- draw. The computer plays with a certain degree of sophistry
- and will bet high or low, as well as bluff, at random. When you
- can consistently beat the computer you are playing with a
- good deal of skill.
-
- After pressing <Q> to quit...enter POKER to play!
-
- are playing with a
- good deal of