You hold
the cards

There exists a variety of poker games played globally that have gained popularity over the decades. However, since the advent of online poker, a couple of variations have enjoyed more attention than others. Texas Hold’em poker, 4 Card Omaha Poker, and 5 Card Omaha Poker are the three top most variants that are widely played all over the world especially in online poker apps.

However, if you had to choose one variation of the game, Texas Hold’em ranks the highest in popularity. It is due to its simpler rules, also it's easier for the software to display the odds to the players. With just two hole cards to begin with, the action is decent enough for beginners to wrap their heads around and catch up with the gameplay.

Omaha poker is also the second favorite variation in the poker community, and is widely available in online poker platforms and apps as well. The rules of the game are quite similar except for the presence of four hole cards instead of two in Hold’em which affects the gameplay and strategy. However, both variations are equally fun.

Other popular versions of poker are- 7 Card Stud, 5 Card Draw, Omaha Hi Low, Razz Poker among others.

Origin of Poker

14th Century - An impoverished version of a poker game dates back to the 9th Century in China. The online poker tournament variation known to us today was shaped in France in 1400. ‘Poque’ was the game played with a deck of 52 cards with very similar gameplay to the modern forms of of poker game.

18th Century - Though Poque remains the closest ancestor, the game got it’s complete, proper form 400 years later in America. Credited to the Mississippi Delta region, the finer and more crucial gameplay is deemed to have been added here. Wagering, raising and bluffing were new poker rules added to the poker game in the mid-1700s. Mississippi could probably be christened as the birthplace of modern online poker. By the 1800s, every riverboat on the Mississippi was rocking a poker game. Played with a 52-card deck, poker included straight and stud poker. A heads-up of the game was seen playing with 20 cards.

Early 19th Century - The 19th century saw Mississippi riverboats meander up and float the game to other young Americans. The Gold Rush in California brought gold and poker to the west. The popular modern poker game variation began to seep its way into literature by the mid-1800s. Turbulent times during the American Civil War proved fruitful for the game. The war is said to have got American soldiers playing a game of online poker in their camps.

Late 19th Century - The second half of the 19th century witnessed online poker variants’ innovations to make the game more exciting. The flush and straight were included in 1850. The game also witnessed various other experiments, like lowball versions, split-pot online games and ‘community cards.’ The concept of community cards hung around and was seen used in a game of Texas Holdem Poker in 1925.

1970s - The poker game continued to spread its wings in 1900 and was played in riverboats, parlours, and halls. The stigma associated with the game began to change. In 1970, Benny Binion decided to invite the country’s seven best poker players to compete at his casino in Las Vegas, and that was the birth of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), a legacy that stands tall in the online poker world even today! Though it was WSOP’s unofficial first, Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim played cash games and voted the world’s first poker champion and this was the first time that the faster poker game variation of Texas Hold’em was the preferred game style. Organisers believed that No-Limit Texas holdem poker made the game fun, easy to watch, and understand. The decision to play Hold’em set it on track to become the most popular poker variants of all globally.

1980s - The 1980s saw game catapult into its first ‘poker boom’ when the State of California legalised the poker game. Online Poker rooms mushroomed in LA as a result. Then came the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988, passed by the US Congress, which legalised casinos on indigenous lands. Game caught on like wildfire on the West Coast.

1995 - An invention by Henry Orenstein was about to change the game forever. A video camera that could be mounted on a poker table to view each player’s hole cards discreetly opened up this game broadcast channels. Live poker now became a spectator sport and quickly got television producers standing in line.

1998 - On January 1st, 1998, the first hand was dealt on the poker site Planet Poker. With the advancement of technology, it was no doubt the popularity of online poker games would soar.

2003 - The second ‘Boom’ spread the game worldwide and encouraged more youngsters to test the waters. It was 2003, and it was accountant Chris Moneymaker who recorded game glory. A satellite through an online poker site that cost him $86 went on to make him $2,550,000 in the World Series Main Event! He brought alive the dream of this game, and millions today try their poker hands at small-stakes satellites in online poker games and online poker games and tournaments hoping for their first hefty million!

What made the skilled-based mind game of poker so famous? Indeed a 100 million-odd players spending hours in front of their screen has to be more than just cool. We’ll tell you why:

The Underdog Stories Poker Game

The ultimate joy of this game is winning. All the poker tips and tricks, strategy, and skill used to outfox your opponent is finally rewarded with a hefty paycheck. The greatest success stories in a sporting field are always of the underdog. The poker game world has one of its own, the Chris Moneymaker. The tale of an amateur player who made his first million through an online poker satellite in the world’s most prestigious tournament, the WSOP Main Event. His accounting background helped him calculate the odds and manage his poker chips forever cementing the need for skill in this game. The rest is history as thousands of inspired amateurs work their way up in the game world, whether via live or free poker online poker games today, hoping for their day of ‘poker glory.’

Making Your Grey Matter Count

Games and hobbies are known to improve one’s brain function. Online poker games require a player to study the game, and it’s strategies, and the ability to make decisions in split seconds while you remain calm and confident. Furthermore, online poker variants require you to adapt constantly during the game, and two hands are ever to play poker out the same. Now, that’s the ‘smart play’ rush that got everyone loving this strategic card game.

Online Poker Variants

The world of online poker is a definite pull for the game. Today, online variants like Texas Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, and Open Face Chinese make the game fun and exciting. A player gets to combine different poker strategy across several game variations with different wagers and outplay their opponents in new ways.

The Glitz and the Glamour of Online Poker

This is a global sport, and it takes players to great locations, from the Vegas strip to the beaches of Monte Carlo to the oriental lands of southeast Asia, who wouldn’t want to work and play poker ike this. Professional players set their jetting setting poker calendars and take their game places!

The Reads

The poker bluff is an authentic charm of the game. Trying to mislead an poker game opponent or look out for their poker tells brings some much-needed heat in live as well as online poker games. Engaging in multi-level and metagame strategies keeps players guessing and preserves the thrill of the game, every single hand.

The Science Behind Bad Beats

The science behind a bad beat in this game is fascinating. A bad beat (when a poker hand goes wrong) results in what is known as ‘tilt.’ A player who enters tilt is known to put themselves in a ‘flight or fright’ zone that results in stress and cortisol release. Players are aware that if they continue in this state, their brain’s higher reasoning functions reduce affecting their gameplay. The more you keep yourself calm, the more thrilling the game.
From biological thrills to neuroscience applications and straightforward old math, the mental challenges of the game is what makes it rewarding and famous today. Welcome to the world’s most vibrant, intellectual, and fun gaming community that’s now all the rage in best poker sites of the day.

The history of this game dates back to the 10th century. Since then, the game has evolved and soared in popularity. Credit to its growth needs to also go to the players who worked relentlessly to master the game, its different poker game variations, spread their knowledge, and encourage new players. These are the dedicated badge wearers of the game of poker during their times. The finesse of their skills and mastery of the game is what makes them exceptional in history! Meet the legends that also made online poker what it is today.

Daniel Negreanu

Daniel Negreanu, aka ‘kid poker’, has undoubtedly earned his name in the list of top poker players in history. With numerous accolades to his name and a whopping $42 million in total live earnings, the young Canadian remains a force to reckon with. Negreanu is also active on the community front, steering the future of poker in the right direction.

Stu Ungar

Stu Ungar is probably known as the best Texas Hold’em player in history. Known as the ‘Comeback Kid, Ugar remains one of the two poker players in history to win the WSOP Main Event three times! Characterised by the expert timing of his bluffs and a notoriously aggressive style to back it, Stu was unstoppable on the felts.

Doyle Brunson

Doyle Brunson is a legendary veteran player with over 50 playing years to his experience. Known as the Texas Dolly, Doyle has two WSOP Main Event titles to his name, remains the first person to win a $1 million in a online poker tournament, and has won 10 WSOP bracelets. Brunson has also played a pivotal role in contributing to poker literature by authoring several books. A parting game in 2018 announced Doyle’s retirement; he went on to finish sixth.

Phil Hellmuth

Phil announced the birth of modern legends. The Poker game Brat boasts fifteen WSOP bracelets and rightly so for the only record. An inductee of the WSOP Hall of Fame, Hellmuth, will go down as one of the best casino players in poker history.While several names pop up on the list and several new ones are added, these legends are sure to have their name carried forward over the years; such is their mastery. To the legends making game history!

The Indian subcontinent has a long drawn history with card games. The card games carry various influences from its colonisation impact from both the West and the East. However, India also developed their native card games that garnered a following over the years. The Indian online poker variant, 3 Patti was soon introduced in it’s digitised avatar in 2006. With the advent of the internet, penetration in the smartphone market, and viable technology, online poker games soon caught on among the mass players in India.

Considering the potential of this voracious appetite, it wasn’t long before companies wanted to expose the Indian market to an online poker game. Already a wildly popular game in the West and Europe, the Indian waters were soon tested. Thereby, Indian gaming companies began to develop Indian poker sites for playing this fun online card game.

Online Poker Industry India

The interest in online poker games grew with the birth of an application developed for social networking site, Facebook in 2007. By 2011, it boasted of a 36 million player base, making it the world’s largest Indian online poker site. Offline, the LIVE poker games continued its battle with the Indian Legal system. The universal appeal of the online gaming industry offered direct monetisation opportunities and called for a regulatory framework. Indian laws had to differentiate between games of skill and games of chance to regulate the industry’s monetary offerings. The former is one that depends principally on the knowledge, training, and experience of the player. With that definition emerged the Real Money Gaming (RMG) online market.The ‘golden moment’ of online poker had thus arrived with the regulated RMG sector.

PokerBaazi as a Leader in the Indian Poker Industry

Given the high growth potential, several existing foreign poker sites set out to explore possibilities to set up India’s operations. Meanwhile, a home-grown product exposing the Indian market to international levels of online poker became the need of the hour. Making just that their priority, Pokerbaazi, set out to revolutionise the way to play poker online.
Bootstrapped and led by great visionaries, PokerBaazi soon marked its name in the Indian Poker Gaming Industry. Spearheading technology innovations with astounding product offerings, the brand soon grew synonymous as the most trusted Indian poker site.

PokerBaazi continued to disrupt the landscape of online poker games with crushing new guarantees, fun to play poker variations, and for the first of its kind a player loyalty program. Capturing millions of players’ hearts, PokerBaazi continues to be the flag bearers of the Indian Poker industry.

Tournaments

Online poker games are of two basic kinds, poker cash games and tournaments. Online poker tournaments are the most popular among poker game players sheerly for their exponential value. PokerBaazi.com is known for these value tournaments and are, the first to host a 1 Cr, 2 Cr, and 5 Cr guarantee tournaments! Inclusion is the name of the game at PokerBaazi, and there are online poker tournaments at various stakes that fit perfectly for any player’s poker bankroll management. A newbie to poker and worried about putting in real money in India? Pokerbaazi.com has you covered with a host of free entry poker tournaments that allow you to practice all your poker skills with absolutely nothing at stake! What say, be a part of the Indian online poker tournament revolution with its pioneer, Pokerbaazi.com?

Promotions

Promotions sure are a deal-breaker when it comes to online poker. PokerBaazi.com customises its promotions to deliver significant value to your online poker game. From the special poker offers that unlock great privileges to deposit recommendations that make depositing equally fun as withdrawing to the ‘always-on offers’ rewarding online poker oddities, the propositions pour in year-long and are around the clock. Ride with Pokerbaazi.com to value town with great online poker promotions!

Best Online Poker Gameplay

The quintessential gameplay on PokerBaazi. com is what makes it India’s most trusted online poker site to play on—beginning with one of the best user-interfaces that allows players to navigate their game without any hurdles. The PokerBaazi app further ensures you can play poker game online on the go and not miss out on your favourite poker games. The additional vertical orientation allows you to free up one hand and not interrupt poker gameplay. As key as data is for a poker site, so should it be for its players. The poker math, tournament stats, and promotion caveats are clearly displayed to the user, ensuring transparency. As for all the winning streaks, we don’t want you to delay your celebrations; enjoy our instant withdrawals!

24x7 Customer Support - We Listen With All Our Hearts.

Customer care forms the backbone of an online poker site. Considering the several unfamiliar situations a poker player can encounter in online poker games, our customer care plays a pivotal role in educating and guiding its player base. At PokerBaazi.com, our customer care works around the clock to ensure poker players receive effective resolutions to any of their poker game queries in 24-48 hours. The well-equipped team is just an email or call away to resolve all your online poker queries.

Responsible Gaming - Play Your Cards, Right!

A skill-based poker game in India is bound to have you enthralled from the word go. The thrill of winning and outfoxing your opponents is too enticing in an online poker game. Ensuring your spirit for a game of online doesn’t turn south, the responsible gaming section on pokerbaazi.com equips you with the right checks to keep your online poker games on track! Pokerbaazi.com is committed to working with you and protecting you from the game’s anomalies with its responsible gaming policy. Effectively use the tools of our approach to ensure you enjoy a responsible gaming experience.

Game Variations certainly add some flavour to the game and keeps the game fun by testing you in different ways. Similar to live poker, online poker tournament variants serve up to three most popular online poker variations, namely, Texas Hold’em, PLO, and OFC.

Texas Hold’em

The most popular online poker variant is known as Texas Holdem Poker Two cards known as ‘hole cards’ are dealt face down to each player on the table. Five cards known as the community cards are opened face up by the dealer in stages. The community cards are spread in three stages: first, the flop, three cards, second, the turn, consisting of one card and third, the river, consisting of one card. Players go through a round of wager before each stage of the community card being dealt.

The wager contributed by each player has no limit, and therefore, it’s tag No-Limit Texas Hold’em. Each online poker player must aim to hit their best five-card poker hand from a combination of the seven cards, i.e., five community plus two hole cards in this game variation. The player who has the best combination and is still in the hand (not folded) at the end of all the wagering rounds wins the money wagered for the hand, commonly known as the pot.

PLO

PLO or Omaha or Pot Limit Omaha Poker is another popular online poker variant. In this game variation, a poker game player is dealt with four ‘hole cards’ face down. Community card; its stages, and wagering rounds remain the same as a game of Texas Hold’em. However, in this online poker cash game, the wager amount in each round is limited to the pot size, and the name Pot-Limit Omaha. A winning hand in this online poker variant is formed with the best possible five-card combination with precisely two of the hole cards plus exactly three of the five community cards.

OFC

Open Face Chinese Poker or OFC Poker is a variant of Chinese poker; an online poker variant considered to be beginner-friendly as you only need to have a basic knowledge of poker hand rankings to get started! The objective of this friendly game variant is to collect individual hand combinations that follow hand ranking. Each player is dealt a total of thirteen cards and needs to be arranged in 3 hands. The bottom and middle hand consist of five-card combinations and the top row a three-card combination. To win or for a hand to be qualified, your Bottom Hand ≥ Middle hand ≥ Top hand as per the Open Face Chinese Poker hand ranking rules.

To win this online poker variant a player must:-

- accumulate points by winning more hands/rows. To win a row, your hand ranking needs to be higher than your opponents’ in the same row.
- Collect royalties on premium hands.

Fantasyland

Fantasyland is every OFC player's objective. A player is awarded a special bonus in this poker variation if their first hand has a queen pair or higher and hasn't fouled the rest of their poker hands. What does this do?
- A poker fantasyland bonus gives you a significant advantage in the next round since you will receive all 13 cards in one go, while the remaining players play out the hand as usual.
- Receiving all 13 cards in one go certainly helps you arrange and rearrange your cards in the best combination possible.

There exists a good number of poker games with its own set of rules, and unique poker gameplay and strategy. The most popular poker games played across different regions across the globe are-

• Texas Hold’em poker
• 4 Card Omaha poker
• 5 Card Omaha
• Open Face Chinese Poker
• 5 Card Draw
• 7 Card Stud
• Razz Poker

This purely depends on your skill set and experience of playing poker in the long run. However, there exists three popular variations of online poker, available widely in credible online poker platforms, namely Texas Hold’em poker, Pot Limit Omaha and Open Face Chinese poker. You can play free games, cash games and tournaments of these variations across stakes and win real money.

You can play poker online for free on various online poker platforms or apps. If you wish to play online poker on a safe and secure network and enjoy a smooth transition from free games to the world of real money poker, PokerBaazi happens to be a reliable platform to learn and play poker online with friends on a level playing field.

PokerBaazi is India’s biggest poker platform trusted by over 20LAC Indians and therefore, you can be part of a credible environment that allows you to learn and enjoy poker online at your own pace and convenience. The PokerBaazi app hosts free entry tournaments for beginners and learners that rewards with leaderboard bonus money that players can use to sit on the cash tables without spending any amount of money of their own.

Yes, you can play poker for free in a variety of online poker apps and websites. Credible platforms in India such as PokerBaazi are an excellent choice to play free poker online. Their app is seamless, user friendly, easily navigable for new users to help you learn how to play poker without any challenge.

Is poker illegal in India?

No, Poker is completely legal in India as per the judgment of the Supreme Court. You can play online poker for stakes and earn real money on online poker apps as well as live casinos based in Goa as per the platform you play on abides by government laws. However, certain states such as Assam, Odisha, Nagaland have passed their own laws that restrict all games for real money.

Is poker skill or luck?

Poker is predominantly a game of skill with an element of luck that’s common to all sports. Besides learning the rules of the game, a player has to apply strategic poker betting based on the cards they are dealt and the players they are up against on a certain table. In order to be a winning player, you must carry emotional intelligence, patience, focus and learn the pot odds and practice consistently.

Which is the best poker app?

PokerBaazi is one of the oldest poker platforms that hosts both live events and online games of poker on its platform throughout the year. Trusted by over 20LAC players in the country, it has a credible, safe and reliable network that allows beginners and professionals fair opportunities to play poker and win real money. Professionals can go for this platform and play some of the most prestigious tournaments on the national as well as international realm of poker.

Can Poker be a career?

Certainly, Poker is a legit career choice to make if you dedicate yourself to the game wholeheartedly. You have to be a consistent learner and play regularly to develop the necessary skills and knowledge about the game well enough to be a winner in this game. You must play regularly to thoroughly understand the nuances of the game and contest with a variety of skillful opponents to learn and ladder up to the winner’s circle.