Poker is played in many forms and variations. Classic or straight poker is the oldest version of this game. The roots of this game can be traced back to the American Revolutionary War in 1775. Back then, this was a three card game called Primero. It is still very widely played in India, Nepal and the United Kingdom. In English it is now called “flush”, in Hindi “Teen Patti”.

It is from Primero that classic poker evolved into what it is today in its basic game form. i.e. straight poker. This is the simplest variation of all the forms of poker with the least complication in the basic rules of card handling and dealing. The other variations of the game only differ in the way the cards are dealt. The hierarchy of the cards and the manner of betting remains the same. This makes this game ideal for beginners and amateurs to break their bones before they try more complicated variants of the game.

Five cards are dealt straight to all the players in the game. Betting on the hand follows and stakes are raised. Most games have a limit to the maximum bet that can be placed on each hand. This is usually to avoid the awkward situation of people not having enough chips to carry on. Ideally bets can be raised till people are in the game and there is no limit to the number of rounds of betting. Most times all five cards are used in case of a final show down.

The game form of straight poker does not leave a lot of room for strategy building. It is difficult to add new twists to the game as it progresses. You have what you have in your hands. This brings the need for other variations of the game that evolved over time.  Since the rules more or less remain the same, it’s easy to make new form of this game yourself and play them if you understand the play well enough. There are some other standard variations of the game that will be discussed in subsequent articles in detail.

Professionally, straight poker is hardly played anymore. Casinos and gambling houses usually play other variants of the game to allow additional strategies and game twists. For beginners, I would still recommend a couple of rounds of straight poker just to get a feel of the game before trying on variants.