Poker has become an inseparable part of the American and English culture today. However, in the recent year there has been a distinct shift in the priorities of the game. Poker originated as form of gambling with cards. Even when the online version made its appearance with the Internet and World Wide Web storming the world, they were basically gambling games played in multiple online casinos. Side by side there was also the traditional gambling game in the brick and concrete casinos around the world.
A time came when countries like China banned gambling completely and United States put in place stringent regulations to prevent their residents from gambling. Today gambling in any form has been made violation of law not only in United States and China but in many countries in Asia and Africa as well. Only the faithful Europe still continues the legacy of poker as a gambling game both online and offline.
Despite these restrictions the inherent charm and delightful experiences of the game that is at once thrilling and adventurous, has not been lost on the gaming world. That is why in most of the countries where it has been banned as gambling game, a new shape is given to the game by making it a sports rather than a gambling game. Tournaments are held annually and at regular intervals having a host of prizes and the game has now taken a legal form with such local, regional, national, and international tournaments held all over the world.
Who can overlook the intense charms of the terminologies used in the game like the “ace in the hole”, “blue chip”, “cash in”, “high roller”, “pass the buck”, “poker face”, “when the chips are down”, and several others? Many such terms have assumed high literary importance and are widely used by the writers and creators of literary excellence. Many bestseller books have successfully used the poker jargons as their titles. The terms truly depict the English culture.
When the world series of poker began in the year 1970, it triggered of a series of tournaments on poker games. Some of the notable world wide tournament champions are Johnny Moss, Amarillo Slim, not to forget Doyle Brunson. The popularity of poker took a jump start in the beginning of the twenty first century. The reason was the introduction of the king of the game, online poker. The hold card camera, one of the novel inventions, turned the traditional game into a sports event that is one of the spectacular gaming events today.
You will find innumerable online free poker rooms and casinos offering you the game. Some will induce you to register with them while others will allow you to just log on to their site and play. You get all the charms of real online poker rooms sitting at the cool comforts of your home.
