Warning: If you don't know how to play poker, don't attempt to learn at a table. To learn how these variations are played, either read a book or take lessons. A few even have Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo split.

Most casinos also provide tables for playing Seven-Card Stud, Omaha High, and Omaha Hi-Lo. The house usually rakes around 10% (it depends on the casino) from each pot. The house dealer takes care of the shuffling and the dealing, and moves a marker around the table to alternate the start of the deal. Players make the best five-card hand, using their own cards and the “board” (the community cards), and the best hand wins. After a betting round, five community cards (everyone can use them) are dealt face up on the table. Two cards are dealt, face down, to the players. There are lots of variations on the basic game, but one of the most popular is Texas Hold ’Em. The game is still played by lots of people and you can easily find a table, but these days you probably won’t have to wait as long to get a seat. What’s behind the trend? Nothing more than the cooling of a hot fad, really. That popularity has waned a bit in the last few years with several of the poker rooms getting smaller, offering fewer games, or closing altogether.

Just about every casino had a poker room and those that didn’t wanted one. For most of the new millennium, poker was just about the biggest thing going, thanks to the popularity of celebrity poker TV shows, poker tours, books, and magazines.

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