Poker has been a form of fun and entertainment for hundreds of years. Some use it as a way of spending one night a week with their friends and family, while there are some who have made it a profession, participating in poker tours and championships. Some will play for dimes and quarters while still others play for hundreds of dollars. Whatever the reason behind their game, one thing is for certain; the winner with the best stud hand takes all.

Poker first originated in the United States around the year 1829, and was played in New Orleans using a twenty card deck with all cards worth ten points. The only cards used were tens, jacks, queens, kings, and aces. While not yet given a name, the purpose then is the same purpose as now; bets were made on who held the highest cards in their hand. The name "poker" didn't originate until con artists on Mississippi riverboats used a fifty-two card deck to scam the unknowing travelers to take their gambling stashes or pokes. This is how the game received the name "poker." Five card stud, a type of poker, first originated during the Civil War era, followed by the birth of seven card stud sometime in the twentieth century.

No matter what kind of poker you choose to play, the name of the game is money. The only way to win that money is to build up the best hand possible through the course of the deal. In seven card stud, the winner is usually the person with the highest hand. There is also a variation in which the pot (the cumulation of bets made) is split between the persons with the highest and lowest hands. Some even choose to play with the jokers in the deck and use them as wild cards, which makes a hand of five of a kind possible. The game can be played with a set limit, meaning that bets and/or raises cannot exceed a certain amount. This may be a good idea if an inxeperienced poker player has joined your game, and is unsure about the hands and their rankings.

In five or seven card stud, the players ante (the initial bet), and the deal begins. The only difference between the two games is the number of cards used. In seven card stud, the players will first be dealt two cards down and one card up. For this first round, the player with the lowest card showing begins the bet, and cannot exceed the amount agreed upon by the table, such as five dollars. While still early in the game, the player's hand will determine how much she bets and whether anyone will fold (resign from the game due to a poor hand), or raises the bet. Players raise for one of two reasons; they either have a good hand like a pair of tens, or they are bluffing to scare the other players out of the game by making them believe they have a good hand. Play will continue for another four rounds of dealing and betting until the player with the highest hand wins.

The best card stud hand possible is a royal flush, which consists of a 10, J, Q, K, and Ace all in the same suit. The next best hand is a straight flush, which is five cards in the same suit, following a number sequence. This would be 8, 9, 10, J, Q. Next comes four of a kind, which is just as it sounds. Full House follows in the rankings, and is three cards of one number and two cards of another. Then there is the flush, which is a hand consisting of cards in the same suit, but not following any numerical sequence. Below that is a straight, which requires the cards to be in a number sequence, but not of the same suit. It then trickles down to three of a kind, two pair and one pair. In any instance where the final two players have the same type of hand, the player with the highest card wins. There are some variations to the game, and for those who choose to play with wild cards, five of a kind is the best hand, outranking the royal flush.

While playing poker can be both fun and lucrative, there are many people who become addicted to it and lose not only their money, but their homes, vehicles and families because they can't stop themselves from playing. Those who are addicted and begin to lose will not stop, but rather continue playing, believing that they can win back their money if they play long enough. Unfortunately, these people are not thinking clearly and sometimes need intervention to help them with their addiction. If you or someone you know is addicted to gambling, there is help available through Gamblers Anonymous.