Whiz Poker

There are a very large number of different kinds of poker games, or poker variants, though the vast majority of them are classed according to three families. These are ‘draw poker’, ‘community card poker’ (for example Texas Hold’em) and stud poker. Here we will take a look at the last of these families, stud poker.

The most popular forms of stud poker that are played today are five card stud and seven card stud, though three card stud used to be very popular and it is still played today. There are also 6 card stud, Razz, Caribbean, Mexican and other stud poker variants. With all of these games players are dealt combinations of cards that are dealt both face up and face down and involve multiple rounds of betting. Unlike community card games, with stud, players have their own specific cards and do not share card values with other players, and unlike draw poker (where players are allowed to exchange their cards) players must play the cards that they are dealt.

To illustrate how the game works we will take 7 card stud as an example.

Each player is dealt two cards face down and one face up. The face up card is generally referred to as the third street. The player with the lowest ranking card pays some money into the pot. This is the first bet and is called the bring-in.

A round of betting ensues and when that has been completed each player is dealt another card face up. This is known as Fourth Street. There is another round of betting and another, Fifth Street, card is dealt face up followed by yet another round of betting and another face-up card, Sixth Street. After the ensuing betting round each player receives a final card (Seventh Street) but this is dealt face down.

There is then a final betting round and at its conclusion the remaining players ‘showdown’, which means revealing the best poker hands that can be constructed from just five cards. The player with the highest ranking hand wins the pot, though if it is a tie then the post is shared.

The recently proposed Digital Economy Bill has been quickly pushed through Parliament after just three readings and only two hours of debate in the Commons. While purporting to only be concerned with blocking instances of copyright violations it would seem a harmless law. However, the some of the wording of the Bill imply some frightening possibilities within its execution on the world of the Internet.

British citizens have enjoyed the right to gambling since the Lottery appeared in the 1930′s. Gambling of all forms, from Online Poker to wagering on the World Cup or the Nationals is an important part of the British way of life.

Since the 1960′s the government has increasingly applied taxes and regulations on the gambling industry. With the powers allowed to the government in this Digital Economy Bill they are allowed to block any site they feel may be “likely to” infringe on a copyright. However, the definition of what is “likely to,” a concept of draconian implications, is left ambiguous and entirely up to the government’s discretion. The wording is so broad that Google itself could be banned from the Islands since it can be used to search for downloadable material in violation of copyright laws.

Does the Digital Economy Bill, on the fast track to becoming the law of the land, give the government the tool they need to ban online gambling from the UK. Are they going to follow suit of the American cousins who have so restricted online gambling of their citizens to the point a casino or poker room has to make special arrangements just to afford Americans the chance to play?