What is poker?
Poker is a game of equal chance, along with games like cribbage
and dominos.
Equal-chance gaming
does not involve playing or staking
against a bank and the chances are equally favourable to all
participants.
Across the world, games of chance played for money or money's
worth are subject to legal controls. The purpose of these
controls is to protect the players and games from unfair or
criminal exploitation.
Poker ‘escalates' as players bet against each other.
Because of this, players may be drawn into risking larger and
larger amounts of money without appreciating the odds of
losing.
Poker games and tournaments have different rules depending on
where they are played:
In Great Britain, if players want to play poker with larger
stakes
than are allowed in the venues above, they are
limited to playing in casinos licensed by the Gambling Commission,
or playing online.
We recommend that you read our guide
What to look out for when gambling online - November 2008 for information on
how to tell whether an online casino holds a licence from us.