Poker Tournament

Poker Tournament

A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table called a "heads-up" tournament, and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tables. The winner of the tournament is usually the person who wins every poker chip in the game and the others are awarded places based on the time of their elimination. To facilitate this, in most tournaments, blinds rise over the duration of the tournament. Unlike in a ring game or cash game, a player's chips in a tournament cannot be cashed out for money and serve only to determine the player's placing.

To enter a typical tournament, a player pays a fixed buy-in and at the start of play is given a certain quantity of tournament poker chips. Commercial venues may also charge a separate fee, or withhold a small portion of the buy-in, as the cost of running the event. Tournament chips have only notional value; they have no cash value, and only the tournament chips, not cash, may be used during play. Typically, the amount of each entrant's starting tournament chips is an integer multiple of the buy-in. Some tournaments offer the option of a re-buy or buy-back; this gives players the option of purchasing more chips. In some cases, re-buys are conditional for example, offered only to players low on or out of chips but in others they are available to all players called add-ons. When a player has no chips remaining and has exhausted or declined all re-buy options, if any are available he or she is eliminated from the tournament.

In most tournaments, the number of players at each table is kept even by moving players, either by switching one player or as the field shrinks taking an entire table out of play and distributing its players amongst the remaining tables. A few tournaments, called shoot-outs, do not do this; instead, the last player sometimes the last two or more players at a table moves on to a second or third round, akin to a single-elimination tournament found in other games.

Gambling

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value as the stakes on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period.

Gaming refers to instances in which the law permits the type of gambling. Gaming and gambling are not mutually exclusive. A gaming company offers legal gambling activities to the public and a gaming control board may regulate the gaming company, like the Nevada Gaming Control Board. However, the English-speaking world does not acknowledge this distinction often. For instance, in the UK, the regulator of gambling activities is called the Gambling Commission not the Gaming Commission.  In addition, the word gaming describes activities that do not involve wagering, especially online.

Gambling is also a major international commercial activity, with the legal gambling market totaling an estimated $335 billion in 2009.

Under United States federal law, gambling is legal in the country and states are free to regulate or prohibit the practice. Gambling has been legal in Nevada since 1931, forming the backbone of the economy of the state. The city of Las Vegas is perhaps the best known gambling destination in the world. In 1976, gambling became legal in Atlantic City, New Jersey and in 1990, under state law, gambling became permissible in Tunica, Mississippi; both of those cities have developed extensive casino and resort areas since then. Since a favorable United State Supreme Court decision in 1987, many American Indian tribes have built their own casinos on tribal lands as a way to provide revenue for the tribe. Because the tribes are sovereign nations, they are often exempt from state laws that restrict gambling and are instead regulated under federal law.

Poker Seven Card Stud Hi Low

Seven Card Stud Hi Low

Seven Card Stud Hi-Low (8 or Better)

Seven Card Stud Poker Hi-Low Split (8 or Better) is played with a standard 52-card deck, but can also be played with a joker. Standard poker rankings apply. When playing with a joker, the joker can be used as an ace, or to complete a straight, flush, or straight flush. Players must qualify for low by making a five-card hand 8 high or lower. Five aces is the highest ranking poker hand. The lowest qualifying five-card poker hand is Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Each player is dealt two cards face down (hole cards) and one card face up. There is a round of betting (check, bet, call, raise, or fold). Each remaining player is dealt one card face up. There is a second round of betting. Each remaining player is dealt a second card face up. There is a third round of betting. Each remaining player is dealt a third card face up. There is a fourth round of betting. Each remaining player is dealt a final card face down (hole card). There is a fifth (final) round of betting. Players can make a high or low hand, or both, using the same five cards. The player with the highest ranking five-card poker hand, and the lowest qualifying (8 or better) five-card poker hand split the pot. If no player can produce a qualifying low hand, the player with the highest ranking five-card poker hand wins the entire pot. In the event of a tie, the pot, or portion of the pot, if the tie is for high or low hand only, is split equally.