From its earliest incarnations, poker has always been a contest of guile, guts, and gambling. The game first emerged around 1800 in the melting pot of New Orleans, and soon spread up the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri rivers. So, how did this simple game of the American South skyrocket in popularity? James McManus shares how the card game became an international affair.
Watch the video and then fill in the text with the following words:
fortunes/ bluff / deductions / saloons / loaded / nerves / invention / tournaments / strategies / cheating / theory
In the 1800s, the _________ of the American West were not just places for shootouts; they were battlegrounds for intense poker games. Cowboys, armed with _________ pistols to deter cheating, faced off for a mountain of chips worth their weight in gold. The real skill lay not in the draw of a gun but in the art of the _________ —a tactic that not even a bullet could counter.
Poker, from its inception in 1800s New Orleans, has been a battle of _________. Two predominant games, French poque and English Brag, laid the foundation. Players were dealt cards, wagering on having the best hand. Bluffing became an art, especially in Brag, where discarding and drawing new cards added complexity.
Southern ingenuity merged these games into a new version of poque, pronounced pokuh, introducing bigger pots and intricate bluffing. The steamboat's _________ further propelled poker's popularity, making it a game played from the Mississippi to the Missouri by the time of Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860.
Poker's allure led to high-stakes games with some even putting their homes on the line. As pots grew, so did cheating. Players used accomplices, marked cards, and cold decks to gain an edge. The Gold Rush brought new variants like Five-card Stud, a favorite of famous gunmen. _________ became so rampant in California that the state outlawed Five-card Stud in 1885.
Texas Hold'em, emerging in Texas to accommodate the Gold Rush's demand for more strategic play, became a favorite due to its low ratio of private, hidden cards to shared, exposed cards, allowing for plenty of _________ and tactical maneuvering. Even more exciting was no-limit Hold'em, which allowed players to go all in, betting everything they had at any point in the hand. In 1928, Hungarian polymath John von Neumann sought to explain the nuances of betting and bluffing in mathematical terms. His work became the foundation for a whole new branch of mathematics called game _________, which has grown to be vitally important not only in high-stakes poker but also in economics and military strategy. In the late 20th century, game theory became essential for navigating the geopolitical bluffing game of nuclear warfare.
Today, America’s card game is an international affair, attracting players from over a hundred countries to the annual World Series of Poker. _________are made and lost every day on casino floors, poker websites, and in thousands of live and online_________. So while a single game's outcome will never be certain, poker is definitely here to stay, captivating minds and fortunes worldwide. Whether in the lively atmosphere of a casino floor, the virtual realm of poker websites, or the intense competition of live and online tournaments, the legacy of this centuries-old game continues to unfold, reshaping _________ and testing the limits of human calculation and psychology.
English has many idioms with their origins in card playing. Let’s imagine you are playing cards.
At the start of a card game, the dealer deals all the cards to you and the other players. You then pick up the cards, hold them in your hand and look at them, to see if they are good cards or not.
If you get bad cards that will make it easier to lose the game, we say you are dealt a bad hand. This might mean lots of low value cards.
If you have a very good hand, we say you hold all the cards.
During the game, you don’t want to let any other players see your cards, so it is best to play your cards close to your chest. This means you are cautious and careful not to give away private information.
If, on the other hand, you decide to lay all your cards on the table, you are being completely honest about which cards you have and everyone now knows what you are capable of.
If you do put your cards on the table, you are probably also inviting the other players to do the same.
If you want to win at cards, it is important to play your cards right, and in some games, you may have the opportunity to play your trump card!
The trump card is more likely to make you win, because that kind of card holds a higher value in the game you are playing.
If you have a great card, such as an ace, and you are waiting for the right moment in the game to use it, we say that you have an ace up your sleeve.
1. be dealt a bad hand
Meaning: to be unlucky from the beginning because you did not get a fair share of opportunities.
Example: His family were extremely poor, and he had to look after his sick parents so he could not go to school. But now he is running his own successful company! It’s amazing how he has turned his life around, after being dealt such a bad hand in the first place.
2. Hold all the cards
Meaning: to be in a strong position because you control the key elements of something
Example: Landlords hold all the cards in the property rental market. Tenants don’t have much power if their landlord decides to increase the rent.
3. Play your cards close to your chest
Meaning: to be secretive about your thoughts and intentions, so that other people do not know what you are thinking or planning
Example: It’s impossible to know whether she will sell the company or not – she plays her cards very close to her chest, so we’ll just have to wait and see what she decides. (note: we can also say ‘she keeps her cards close to her chest’.)
4. Lay all your cards on the table
Meaning: to be completely honest and open about your resources and your intentions
Example: I am fed up with these slow negotiations. I’ll lay my cards on the table – I can offer you two thousand pounds (£2,000.00
$2,095,015.85) for the car, and not a penny more. Will you sell it to me for that price? (note: we can also say ‘put your cards on the table.’)
5. Play your cards right
Meaning: to behave in the right way so that you get an advantage or succeed in something
Example: If I play my cards right at work, I might get a pay rise.
6. Play your trump card
Meaning: to use an advantage that makes you much more likely to succeed than other people
Examples: I didn’t think the caretaker of the manor house would allow us to hold a party there, but then John played his trump card – he’s the grandson of the property owner, so of course we had our party there after all! (note: this means that when John said that his grandfather owned the property, the caretaker decided to allow the party to go ahead.)
7. Have an ace up your sleeve
Meaning: to have secret knowledge or a secret skill or possession which will give you an advantage
Example: I thought we would have to abandon the project due to lack of money, but John had an ace up his sleeve – he had enough money in the bank to cover the cost of the whole project!
How to play Texas Hold'em poker
Poker is a popular card game with many variations, but one of the most widely played versions is Texas Hold'em. Here are the basic rules and instructions for playing Texas Hold'em poker:
Answers
saloons
loaded
bluff
nerves
invention
Cheating
deductions
theory
Fortunes
tournaments
strategies