When playing poker, you will almost always use chips. You will typically use a number of different colors, depending on the type of poker game you are playing. Before the game begins, the dealer will assign a value to each color, and you will trade the chips that you own for the ones you want. The dealer then deals the cards to the players, and shuffles them after each hand. The lowest-valued chip is the white chip. Then you’ll purchase the red or blue chips, which are each worth two, four, or five reds. Most poker games have “buy-in” options, but you may want to check with the dealer first to make sure they have them in stock.<\/p>\n
Before poker began to be played as a card game, other games were played. It is not known if poker originated in France or Germany, though this is likely the case. A German game called pochen was played similar to poker during the 17th century, and its version was brought to New Orleans riverboats. During the Civil War, the rule that players must draw two cards was added to the game, and Stud Poker appeared at the same time. There are now hundreds of variations of the game, and you can play them for pennies or for thousands of dollars at a time.<\/p>\n