Poker Sites

Here are a few examples of Web sites where you can play poker for money.

All of these sites require you to download software to access the games. They also require credit card numbers or an approved online payment system to play for money.

www.pokerstars.com

www.partypoker.com

www.jetsetpoker.com

For those interested in playing without gambling, Yahoo offers a "Hold 'em" table that requires only a free Yahoo log-on and a browser that supports java at http://games.yahoo.com/.

How to Play

TEXAS HOLD 'EM

Texas Hold 'em is the hottest variety of poker today, virtual or in the flesh.

To play, each player pays, or antes, to get a hand. They are dealt two cards that they keep to themselves.

BETTING

Then there's a round of betting. The dealer lays down three community cards, called the flop, face up in the middle of the table.

After another round of betting, the dealer lays down the fourth card, or the turn, with the other three.

After more betting, the dealer lays the final card, or the river. (According to Lee Jones' poker glossary, the most colorful Hold 'em metaphors come from this final card. For example: "He drowned in the river.")

OBJECT OF GAME

The object is to get the best five-card hand out of the combination of the community cards and the two private cards each player is dealt.

SKILL VERSUS LUCK

Norm Fournier and his poker buddies said that part of the game is 90 percent luck. The test of skill comes in the final round of betting. "No limit" means just that. A player has the option to throw in everything he has, or go "all-in."

The skill in playing the game, some players say, comes not from the cards but from gauging another player's tenacity - making the game less gambling than a microstudy of human behavior, seeing whether a player will flinch at a huge bet and fold.

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