What comes first in your mind when you see posters with dogs gathered around in a table with card in hand or a typical Western scene wherein cowboys smoke while playing cards at a saloon?

These kinds of scenario only points to one classic game of cards, nothing else but the poker game. No game could be visually described as that of a poker game. It is almost everywhere. In the United States, it's like it is already a part of the American way of living.

Poker game is one game everybody loves. It is played in every card rooms across the world. And with its growing popularity, it even invaded the Internet.

Basically, a poker game is the most popular in a class of games known as the vying game wherein players who fully conceal or partially conceal their cards then make bets into a central pot. Poker game ends when the player with the best combination of cards wins.

Like any typical vying game, one or more players are asked to put a primary amount of money into the pot before the cards are dealt. And like most card games, the cards are shuffled, and then cut, and the correct number of cards are dealt facing down to the players.

The rotation of the players is usually done on a clockwise manner with a button marking the next player who will have to deal and bet next. It is usually after the initial deal that several rounds of betting will commence.

However, the poker game players will be able to develop a strategy in some way in between rounds, by being dealt additional cards or replacing cards that were previously dealt. During every betting rounds in a poker game, a current bet amount will always be present. This refers to the total amount of money bet in a particular round by the player who bet last on that same round. For some tracking reason, the players are required to not place their stakes directly into the pot. This is known as slashing the pot. The poker game players are asked to place the stakes in front of them instead. When the betting round is over, the stakes will be gathered and placed into the pot.

At the end of the last betting round of a certain poker game, in the event that there remains one player, there will be a showdown. This means that all the players will disclose their previously hidden cards and evaluate their "hands" or card combinations. The player with the best combination wins the pot. Though, this rule depends on the poker game variant being played.

In a poker game, the combination of cards are the essential part of the game. This will determine if you can win the pot or not.

The highest card combination in a poker game is the straight flush. This means that you have five cards in suit and sequence in your hand. Next to that is the four of a kind combination wherein you have four cards of the same rank and one idler.

The third highest card combination in a poker game is the full house. Here you must have three cards of one rank and two of another. Flush card combination comes next having five cards in suit but not necessarily in sequence. Then the straight card combination with five cards in sequence but not in suit.

The three of a kind combination, threes, triplet, trips, or in any way you want to call it as long as it is a combination of three cards of the same rank plus two of two different ranks are considered the next highest card combination in a poker game.

Two pair, one pair, and a high card, meaning no combination, ranks the lowest in a poker game.

As much as the poker game has its variety of card combinations, it has also its variety of poker games. The most common of these poker game variations is the Draw Poker variations. Here, the players receive a full hand during an initial deal but eventually discards some of those cards and will be replaced with new cards from the deck.

Stud Poker variations differs from the draw poker game in terms of card dealing and betting. In this variety of poker game, after the players are dealt with initial amount of cards, they are given one more card on each completed betting round until seven cards are dealt. This, however, varies when playing a five stud poker game variation.

On the other hand, Shared-card Poker Game variations deals with small amount cards on each player. After which, the cards are placed in the center of the table that are common to every players.

The last two poker game variations are the miscellaneous poker variation and the non-poker game variation. Miscellaneous poker game variations are poker games that use the standard ranking of card combinations though not being dealt in the same way as the other poker game variations. While the non-poker game variation does not use the standard ranking of poker hands so as to verify the winner.

Whatever poker game you play, it is still a poker game, so addicting yet so gratifying. It just takes a combination of skills and luck to outwit the other players. As most veterans in poker game contends, if you cannot spot the lose within the first hour at the table, then, with outmost probability that you are the loser. So better be equipped with money and skills in playing a poker game than to have money without even a single skill about poker games.