Online Poker is one of the reasons that the popularity of poker in general has increased drastically in the last few years. A game of online poker provides the same suspense and entertainment as a game of real life poker without the necessity of having to organize a room and like-minded friends to play with. Online poker can be played at any time with people from all over the world. The fact that players face other humans, even though behind a computer and maybe miles away, adds to the excitement. For people who are sick of playing against a dealer and, therefore, against the house advantage, online poker is the perfect game. Players have the opportunity to use their skill, read other players' moves and use a little bit of luck to the best of their advantage.
The most popular online poker game is "Texas Hold'em". In this variation of poker every player is dealt two cards. These two cards cannot be exchanged until the next round when everybody gets two new cards. In addition to the two cards that every player is holding there are five community cards in the middle of the table, however, they do not get revealed right away, making the game more suspenseful for everyone. After everyone has received their two cards the betting can begin. The person to the left of the dealer puts in the small blind, the player to his left the big blind. After that the next player can either call (meaning he has to put in at least the amount of the big blind), raise, or fold (he gets rid of his two cards and is not taking part in this round any longer). After this first betting round the dealer reveals the flop, meaning three face-up community cards. This is the beginning of the second betting round, which proceeds in a clockwise fashion like the first round. The options are the same again, either call (match the highest bet), raise, or fold. Now a fourth community card, called the turn, is revealed, which again is followed by a round of betting and finally a fifth and last card is revealed, the river. If all players fold, the one person who is still betting will receive all the chips in the pot. However, if there are still at least two people betting there will be a showdown, which involves all players who have not folded showing the highest hand they can make with their cards and three of the five community cards. The hands are ranked as follows: Individual high cards are the lowest hand, then one pair, two pair, three of a kind, straight (five cards of sequential rank), flush (five cards of the same suit), full house (a pair plus three of a kind), four of a kind, and straight flush (five sequential card of the same suit). If several players have the same hand, the pot will be split.
Even though all of these rules might be intimidating at first, online poker is the perfect opportunity to get more acquainted with the game of poker, or even to train for real life tournaments. As opposed to many other games that can be found in a casino environment, a player's success is largely determined by skill and not by luck. Many a person has become quite wealthy by training his poker skills in an online poker environment.
