Poker

There are a great deal (pun intended) of variants to Poker. The majority of which are roughly classified into how the cards are initially dealt. Stud Poker, Draw Poker and Community Poker.
What makes Poker different to many other games is the way betting takes place. Indeed the variations inside too.
One of the more commonplace games you will find is the community style game of Texas Hold Em Poker. Everyone can make their hand with the community cards and their own 2 cards, others private to each player. Typically for most games the hands follow a ruling to decide the outcome of a win. It is possible to win a hand without showing your cards. This can happen when other players have a bad hand and one player seems to have a very good hand.

Start of play
Betting moves around the table to the left of the changing dealer. First there is a small blind then a big blind placed.  These players start betting -no cards have yet been dealt. Then the dealer goes around dealing 2 cards per player. The player to the left of the big blind is ‘Under The Gun’ and starts. The choices for each player are

Folding- you have no decent hand and don’t want to bluff. 

Calling- you make a bet.

Raise- you make a higher than current bet.

The next round the dealer deals what is called the flop- these are the community cards everyone can use to make their hand from. One card goes face down and 3 face up.

Another round takes place- players can bet or check.

The dealer places a 2nd face down ‘burn’ card and a single faceup card called the ‘turn’

Another round goes and then the dealer places the final community card called the river.

A FINAL round of betting happens before the showdown.’

If one player is remaining still calling the final player or other players the hands are shown and the best hand takes the pot.

History
It is agreed that that poker seems to be derived from other games and that betting is what differentiates the game. Some say the modern game was formed in the mid 19th century in the south USA where it was played on paddle boats on the Mississippi.