High Stakes, High Risk, High Rewards
With a popularity that reaches almost any corner of world, poker has fast become one of the most popular card games. Casinos from the United States to China welcome poker players and have set tables for them. Regardless of race or language, poker invites all to play. It is a game that requires skill and bravado to try to beat the odds to win. This popular card game has transcended casinos and game rooms and found itself on television through the World Poker Tour. Through showing professional poker players battle it out, more and more people have become hooked.
The challenge of the game of poker lies in betting on the right hand and hoping that you have Lady Luck on your side. Poker, strictly speaking, is a family of card games that have the same betting rules and card rankings called hand. Variations of poker lie in how cards are given to players as well as if the high or low hand wins the pot. In the most common kind of poker, players, who don't immediately pull out from the game, are asked to place their bets so they can get in the game. From here, players raise their bets or fold (withdraw from the game). The game would end if only one player places bets on his hand or when hands are shown, the one with the highest hand wins. What sets poker apart from other card games is that one's chances of winning are mostly reliant on emotions and luck. A player who feels strongly about his hand tends to bet more which demoralizes his opponents. On the other hand, betting such a high amount could be read as a bluff or an intimidation tactic meant to ward off players from participating in that round.
Topping cable television, the airing of the World Poker Tour has become one of the most watched shows in the U.S. Aired on the Game Show Television on Mondays, the WPT is on its sixth and supposedly strongest season to date. Started in 2002, the WPT uses the Texas Hold 'Em format. The poker tournaments that make up the WPT are held all over the world but most of the games are held in the United States. The series of poker tours was first broadcasted in February 2004. However, this tournament started its debut season late 2002.
If not the game, the players of poker have caught the attention of many a poker fan. Their skills and knowledge of the game only make poker better to watch. Their winnings, as well as their achievements, are impressive as their skills. Players like Gus Hansen and Doyle Brunson have piqued interest of the show's viewers into trying to be as good as them.
A game that pits mental strength, logical skill, and a bit of luck is indeed a riveting thing to watch. Throw in a huge pot that raises the stake of the game and you have a nail-baiting, being-at-the-edge-of-your-seat kind of excitement that only poker and the World Poker Tour can bring.
