Tue, 04/19/2011 – 03:25 – PokerPages Staff

There are three main types of poker played commonly in casinos.  Our guide will briefly outline the poker rules. 

The oldest form of poker is draw poker- and it is still popular today.  This game involves a blind hand of cards being dealt to participants and bets being placed.  Players then view the cards and are allowed to exchange them after another round of poker betting.  This is called the ‘draw’ phase.  Five-card draw is the most common variant with one round of card changes and different rounds of betting allowed.  There are numerous other variants depending on the casino.

Also popular is stud poker. Seven-card stud is the most popular variant.  It involves seven cards with four face up and three with which to make the best hand.  There are normally a few rounds of poker bets involved with stud poker, and the combination of other players knowing most of their opposition’s hands leads to some tense games.

The most popular form of poker is community card poker.  Texas Hold‘em is a type of community card poker.  This game features five community cards being revealed throughout the game.  Each player has two cards with which to make the best hand out of a group of five card.  Community card poker leads to diverse and complex strategies.  This is one of the reasons why the game is so popular throughout the world.  The majority of poker tournaments play variants of Texas Hold‘em.

Want to learn more?  PokerSchoolOnline is the Internet’s #1 source for poker related learning.  One excellent way to put what you have learnt to the test is by playing free at PokerStars.net.

Fri, 04/15/2011 – 19:57 – PokerPages Staff

Hawaii will not be introducing a licensed and regulated online poker framework this year after a bill put forward failed to advance according to reports.

Senate Bill 755, which was introduced to the state legislature in March, had aimed to change the laws on the island which prohibit any form of gambling.

The measure sought to legalize poker variants, such as Texas Hold’em and Omaha in the hope of capitalizing on the revenues associated with live tournament poker.

Representative Angus McKelvey outlined the advantages of the proposal which could have seen the Aloha State become a base for online poker operations in the future.

“Experience in other markets demonstrates that many poker tournaments and championship series fill hotel rooms for the duration of tournaments, which run for several weeks at a time, with participants, their families, supporters as well as poker aficionados.”

However, the House Financial Committee failed to hear the measure despite it receiving approval from the Economic Revitalization and Business Committee and the House of Judiciary Committee.

Hawaii Coalition Against Legalized Gambling President, Dianne Kay, revealed that the potential decline in tourism sounded the death knell for Bill 755.

“Legalized gambling would introduce an undesirable element to our islands, and would have a highly detrimental effect on the tourist industry.”