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News / Poker - the game of millions of bucks |  |
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Poker is a game of millions of dollars15 March 2007 14:34
The next World Poker Championship with a prize fund of over $100 million will be held in Las Vegas this summer. There is no other sport that offers such fantastic prizes. What kind of game is poker, where you can earn millions of dollars? Myths, legends and reality One day in 1889, the governor of New Mexico, Bradford Prince, just came to watch a poker game . He had no idea that this walk would secure his place in history. The partner of the legendary player Johnny Dougherty was Ike Jackson, one of the richest men on the West Coast of the United States. We played head-to-head five-card poker with draw and no bet limits. More than a hundred people gathered in the audience. At the climax, more than one hundred thousand dollars were at stake. Fat Jackson wrote out and gambled a promissory note secured by his ranch with a herd of 10,000 head. In response, Dougherty scribbled a few words, stood up from his seat, thrust the paper to Prince, grabbed the Colt and put it to the governor’s temple: “Sign, or I’ll pull the trigger,” he commanded. Prince signed without hesitation, and Dougherty, returning to the gambling table, threw the paper on the line: “I’m raising the bet to the value of the territory of the state of New Mexico,” he said. “Apparently this guy is not joking! If this is a bluff, then it’s a royal one!” - Jackson exclaimed and threw the cards... No one ever found out what he had in his hands. And this story was included in the Guinness Book of Records, as were the names of its participants.
Unfortunately, the “image” of poker, formed by American cinema and literature about the Wild West, is, to put it mildly, unattractive. Players must wear cowboy boots and wide-brimmed Stetsons. There is certainly a Colt near the pile of money, and the player’s hand continually reaches for the holster. There is no talk of any art of play ; the ability (and willingness!) to bluff, and, of course, to see through the enemy’s bluff is much more valued!
Today this image hardly corresponds to reality. If the skill of the game comes down to who can draw the Colt the fastest, then why has poker conquered the whole world?
The logic of the game is primarily based on mathematics, so it is not surprising that textbooks on probability theory often use poker as a model for many real-life situations. But psychology, observation, and the ability to concentrate are no less important. The skill of the game is akin to the art of living and winning. On the other hand, the rules of poker are so simple that you can learn to play in ten minutes. This is why so many people are passionate about poker. By the way, the game is very democratic: a student can sit at a card table with 10 dollars in his pocket, an oligarch - 10 thousand dollars.
Although the game is smart and challenging, there is also an important factor of luck. A beginner always has a chance to beat a great master. Imagine that you are invited to a chess super tournament with the participation of Kasparov and Kramnik. There is a large prize fund, but the entry fee is also considerable. You will go? Unlikely! You don't have a chance to beat the world champion. Poker is another matter! Two aces came - and no Kasparov is afraid of you.
The actions of a player at the poker table differ little from the actions of a player on the stock exchange or an investor-financier. To succeed in business, you need to take into account many factors, the same is true in poker - the ability to assess the situation pays every minute (or you pay for someone else's skill). Poker is a concentrated business, its quintessence! Seven centuries of poker The history of poker goes back to ancient times, to the 14th century, when cards first appeared in Europe. The title of progenitor is disputed by many European games , in which there were such combinations of cards as “pair”, “three cards of the same value”, “three cards of the same suit”. In the process of evolution, such an essential element of poker as bluffing appeared
in all these games .
In its current form, the game originated in the United States in the second half of the 19th century and soon became popular in many countries. In 1872, the first written set of rules was published, compiled by Robert Schenck, the US Ambassador to Great Britain.
Professional tournaments have been held since 1970. Then Jack Binion, a big poker fan, organized a competition between six of the most famous US players who claimed the title of king of poker. The luminaries fought for a week in various variants of poker, and Johnny Moss became the champion.
The tournament caused a stir among the public and attracted a lot of spectators. Many expressed a desire to take part in the next such competition. Binion decided to repeat it and called it the World Series of Poker. Year by year the number of participants grows exponentially. If in 1971 there were 14 of them, then in 2004 - 1700, in 2005 - 5800, in 2006 - 8900. Last year's winner Jimmy Gold received a prize of 12 million dollars, and the total prize fund was 90 million! The World Series is the largest poker tournament, but a huge number of others are held, no less prestigious and massive - in Paris, London, Vienna, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk. Poker tournaments are often held in exotic locations, and special poker cruises are organized, for example on the Mediterranean Sea, starting in Venice or Genoa. Gambling or sport ? Games in which winnings depend mainly on blind chance, luck, and to a much lesser extent on the player’s skill and art are considered gambling . It’s not for nothing that gambling was called fatal or daring in the old days. In Russia, the first division of games into gambling (prohibited) and “permissive”, or “power”, can be found in the decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in 1761. To achieve success in poker, you need knowledge and practical application of probability theory, mathematical logic, psychology, and physiognomy. So poker cannot be called a gambling game . Another thing is that various games in general and poker in particular are played mainly by gambling people...
By the way, the fact that poker is an intellectual game is evidenced by the fact that many chess players, including outstanding ones, successfully play it. Thus, grandmaster Alexander Grischuk, who recently visited the direct line at MK, admitted that lately he sits more often at the card table than at the chess table...
Last November, the Russian Sports Poker Federation was established in Moscow, and one of the authors of this article, Dmitry Lesnoy, was elected president. The main task of the federation is to achieve recognition of poker as a sport in Russia, which it essentially is. The poker movement here is only gaining strength, and on the federation website www.pokerfederation.ru fans of the game can find the addresses of dozens of federations in other countries. Let's hope that Russian poker players will one day bring home their Stanley Cup or World Series of Poker platinum bracelets.
Like any game with a long history, poker has many varieties. The heroes of Jack London (read the novel “No Time Waits”) and O. Henry played five-card poker with a draw, and today the most popular is Texas Hold’em, familiar to many from television broadcasts. Here are the basic rules of Texas Hold'em. Each player is dealt two cards face down. Then a buyout of five open cards is laid out in the center of the table - common to all participants. Players use the draw to form the best five-card combination. The bank is taken by the player who remained in the game at the time the last buy-in card is revealed and has the strongest combination made up of his own cards and the buy-in cards. Let's give an example. 1st player: ace? ace?; 2nd player: ace? king ?; 3rd player: jack? 10 ?. There are five cards on the table: Ace? king ? lady? king ? king ?.
So, the first player has a full, 3 aces + 2 kings (an honorable third place), the second has a royal quad (a silver medal instead of money), the third has a royal flush of spades, he’s on the horse! Go Russia! Participants in big poker tournaments in Las Vegas talk about their unforgettable experiences. Imagine a room with 500 poker tables. It's bigger than a football field! Multilingual crowd of participants - 10,000 players from all over the world. But even such a huge hall cannot accommodate all the contenders for the title of the best player on the planet. They have to be divided into subgroups. Each participant pays an entry fee of ten thousand dollars. The prize fund is 100 million! Prizes are won by the top 500 players. Here it is fair to note that if the winners receive fabulous money, then the majority of those who come lose their contributions. Sport is sport.
In 2006, the Russian team was represented by 10 participants at the World Series, four of whom won prizes. This year an even larger landing party is planned, and Arkady Arkanov and Dmitry Lesnoy have already reserved their places at the championship in Las Vegas.
Poker is popular in many countries: for example, in the USA, according to statistics, 25% of men and 13% of women play. Over the past two decades, more than 200 books have been published on the theory and practice of poker. We would recommend to readers the three-volume book “Hold'em by Harrington” by Harrington and Roberti. The first poker magazine appeared in 1896, now there are dozens of them in the world, there is even one specifically designed for ladies.
Television interest in poker has also grown, because it is a spectacular game . Stars of poker, show business, and other sports are sitting at the table. The cards are visible to TV viewers, who witness an exciting fight.
Poker owes a lot of its popularity to the Internet. Hundreds of online poker clubs attract millions of people. It also hosts qualifying competitions for major tournaments, called satellites, for example, 2004 World Series of Poker winner Chris Moneymaker won his ticket to fame (and big money) in a satellite with an entry fee of just $30. His prize was $2,500,000 - not a bad investment for thirty, right? Yes, the winner’s surname clearly suits...
A poker school has been operating in Moscow for several years, headed by one of the authors of the article, Dmitry Lesny. More than 100 people completed it. The lessons cover the mathematical foundations of the game , logic and strategy, and even use computer simulators. Of course, as with anything, playing poker well requires some talent. But without knowing the basics, there’s no escape.
Source: Moskovsky Komsomolets
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