Except in a few versions of the game, a Poker hand consists of five cards. While Poker is played in innumerable forms, a player who understands the values of the Poker hands and the principles of betting can play without difficulty in any type of Poker game. When new cards are introduced, both packs are replaced, and the seal and cellophane wrapping on the new decks should be broken in full view of all the players. In clubs, it is customary to change cards often and to permit any player to call for new cards whenever they wish. In many games in which two packs are used, the dealer's left-hand opponent, instead of the right-hand opponent, cuts the pack. When it is time for the next deal, the shuffled deck is passed to the next dealer. The procedure for two packs is as follows: While the deal is in progress, the previous dealer assembles all the cards from the pack he dealt, shuffles them, and places them to the left. While one pack is being dealt, the other is being shuffled and prepared for the next deal. Poker is a one-pack game, but today, in virtually all games played in clubs and among the best players, two packs of contrasting colors are utilized in order to speed up the game. The standard 52-card pack, sometimes with the addition of one or two jokers, is used. There is plenty of luck in Poker, but the game requires incredibly great skill as well, and each player is the master of his own fate. Poker can be played socially for pennies or matchsticks, or professionally for thousands of dollars.

There are hundreds of versions of Poker, and the game is played not only in private homes, but also in countless Poker rooms at famous casinos. A variation - Stud Poker - appeared at about the same time. During the Civil War, the key rule about drawing cards to improve one's hand was added. In the 1830s, the game was refined further and became known as Poker.

As early as the sixteenth century, Germans played a bluffing game called 'Pochen.' It later developed into a French version, called 'Poque,' which was eventually brought over to New Orleans and played on the riverboats that plied the Mississippi.

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