Poker

The ultimate game of skill, strategy, and psychology

Popularity

2 players

30-60 min

Medium

What You'll Need

🃏 Standard 52-card deck

🔴 Poker chips

About This Game

Poker is a family of card games involving betting and individual play, whereby the winner is determined by the ranks and combinations of players' cards. Many variants exist, each with different hand rankings and betting structures.

How to Play

Setup

Each player gets chips/tokens for betting
Decide on ante (minimum starting bet)

Basic 5-Card Draw (Two-Player)

Each player antes, then receives 5 cards face-down
First betting round: check, bet, call, raise, or fold
Each player discards 0-3 cards and draws replacements
Final betting round
Showdown: best hand wins the pot

Hand Rankings (highest to lowest)

Royal Flush: A-K-Q-J-10 same suit
Straight Flush: 5 sequential same suit
Four of a Kind: 4 same rank
Full House: 3 of a kind + pair
Flush: 5 same suit
Straight: 5 sequential any suit
Three of a Kind
Two Pair
One Pair
High Card

Two-Player Tip

Heads-up poker rewards aggression and reading your opponent

Where to Buy

Buy on Amazon

Support Two Player Games with your purchase

History & Background

Poker's origins are debated, but it likely evolved from various European card games in the early 1800s. Candidates include the Persian game "As-Nas," French "Poque," German "Pochen," and English "Brag."

The game emerged in its recognizable form in New Orleans around 1829, initially played with a 20-card deck. By 1834, the 52-card deck was standard. The draw and stud variants developed during the Civil War era.

Texas Hold'em, now poker's dominant form, was created in Robstown, Texas in the early 1900s. It was introduced to Las Vegas in 1967 by a group of Texan gamblers and gained popularity through the World Series of Poker (established 1970).

The 2003 "poker boom" began when amateur Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP Main Event after qualifying online for $39. Online poker and televised tournaments transformed poker from a gambling game to a worldwide phenomenon. Heads-up (two-player) poker remains the purest test of skill.