DRAW POKER Poker, known in some circles as "The Great American Game", actually originated in the United States! It became popular among the Cajuns and French of New Orleans in the 1800's. At that time they called the card game "poque", likely from the French word "pocher" meaning "to bluff". As the game worked its way north by way of Mississippi steamboats the name came to be known as "poker", probably because of mispronunciation. Poker is loosely based on card games which date back as far as the fifteenth century. There are many forms of today's game including Spit-in-the-Ocean, Criss-Cross, Michigan, Base- ball, High-Low, Showdown and Stud. But the most popular is Draw Poker. THE GAME Draw Poker is played with a fifty-two card deck, the Jokers being discarded. All players "ante" an amount which has been previously agreed upon. The dealer shuffles then five cards each are delt to the players, one at a time, face down, in turn to the left of the dealer. After inspecting the hand delt him, each player to the left of the dealer receives the opportunity to bet, raise, see, or fold. A player "sees" a bet by matching it, in order to stay in the game. After seeing a bet, a player may "raise" the bet, requiring all who wish to continue to see the raise. Usually, seeing and raising are combined as raising. Those not wishing to continue, "fold" and forfeit all amounts bet. After all betting is complete and each remaining player has seen the last bet, each player to the left, in turn from the last to see, may discard up to five cards and draw new ones as replacements in order to better his odds of winning. A player who discards none "stands pat". When each player has drawn or stood pat, the last to see starts a new round of betting. Play is finished when all but one player have folded or when one player "calls" the bet. The player with the highest hand wins the pot and becomes the dealer. SCORING There are no points awarded in Poker. It is usually played with money or chips representing money instead. Hands are valued from least to highest in order as follows: High Card: The highest valued card held wins the hand. Deuce is low and Ace is high. (If all cards in all hands match, the highest suit wins. Ace of spades is high, then Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs. Lowest card is the two of Clubs.) A Single Pair: The highest valued pair wins. Again, Deuce low - Ace high. To break a tie, the next highest single card wins. Two Pair: The highest combination wins. In the case of a tie, the next highest single card wins. Three-of-a-kind: The highest threesome wins. Straight: The highest five cards in sequence, but not all of the same suit...Ace may be high or low to make the sequence. Tie is broken by the highest high-card's suit. Flush: The highest five cards held in a single suit. Ties are broken as with the Straight. Full House: The highest combination of Three-of-a-kind and a Pair. Ties are broken by highest three-of-a-kind. Straight Flush: The highest five cards of a single suit, in sequence. Tie is broken by the highest suit. Royal Flush: Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten of a single suit. Highest suit wins in case of a tie. LAS VEGAS DRAW POKER Draw Poker as played in Las Vegas allows a draw of only three cards and requires that a player have a pair of Jacks or better in his hand. Players not meeting this requirement must fold and forfeit their ante, which is usually a quarter. The maximum bet in Las Vegas Draw Poker is usually five dollars. Raises may be considered as bets or may not be specified, depending on the house. Most casinos allow only three raises. Some, however, allow five before the player in turn must see, call or fold. USING THE KEYBOARD VALUES: 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,1,J,Q,K,A. SUITS: S,H,D,C. "1" is equal to 10. Press , "Q", or Ctrl Break to Quit midgame. COMPUTER DRAW POKER The computer game is played as Five Card Draw Poker with no requirements for opening bet and no limit. Both the player and the computer start with 1000 "chips". Each antes one chip before cards are dealt. Three raises per round are allowed in the computer version of the game. This game is designed to allow the computer to act as both tutor and player. It does not look at your hand to make playing descisions and doesn't remember any of the cards in your hand when it does check them. It checks your hand only to see that you are playing the game properly. When you are in a rule-breaking situation, it will display a message to help you to get it right. It also displays messages to direct you when to bet, see, raise, call, fold, discard and draw. The computer plays with a certain degree of sophistry and will bet high or low, as well as bluff, at random. When you can consistently beat the computer you are playing with a good deal of skill. After pressing to quit...enter POKER to play! are playing with a good deal of