When you think of poker card games, you probably conjure up memories of the old western movies that you can still catch on the Turner Classic Movie Channel.  It seemed that every western had a scene in the movie depicting a poker card game played in a saloon.  After watching numerous movies of this nature, you almost knew what was coming.  There was always a handsome leading man, such as James Garner or Paul Newman, who had enough impish in him to keep the movie interesting.  

The hero always had a beautiful woman by his side, and this established up a perfect setting for the anti-hero, who was always a dirty-shaven heathen who would just as soon shoot you as look at you.  The anti-hero, or bad guy, would always have his equally despicable friends spying on the other players’ cards while the poker game was in session.

Inevitably, these poker card games always came down to a battle between the hero and the villain.  It would never shock you that, if the villain had a hand of 4 KINGS, the hero would have 4 Aces.  At that point, the scene would get tense.  The other players in the poker card game would push their chairs back from the poker card table, and leave the hero and the villain to settle the card game the old fashioned Western way – with guns blazing.

Today, poker card games are featured in both land-based casinos as well as in online casinos in the world of cyberspace.  With the explosion of the game of poker as a big-time sport on TV, people all over the world have learned how to play the game of poker in one variation or another.  The game of poker appeals to people across along economic lines, and the game is popular among all nationalities and ethnicities.  

Since the game of cards was invented back in ancient China, and exported to Europe sometime around the 14^th Century, the game has impacted the culture of almost every society.  The game of poker exploded when the French broke down the deck of cards into 4 suits, and numbered the cards as well.  When the game of poker was exported from France to England and, ultimately, to the United States, the connection between poker card games and the culture of the times became indelibly entwined in history.