Poker

Poker is a type of card game, and is traditionally associated with betting and gambling. In North America, at the time period of Red Dead Redemption, poker was a serious parlor game, that could sometimes result in violent disputes and death.

In Game
John Marston can, participate in games of poker throughout the game world. The player must always wager, and either earn or lose considerable sums, of cash. Saloons feature poker tables very prominently.

Rockstar's media campaign has revealed that the player can choose to kill rival NPCs when playing poker in order to steal their betting pots, this option will cost the player honor.

The poker rules used in-game are those from no-limit Texas hold'em. You should have at least a passing understanding of the rules as the game does not tell all of the information on a winning hand only the primary information. Winning hands (in order from worst to best) are as follows: High card, 1 pair, 2 pair, 3 of a kind, straight (five cards in sequence such as nine-ten-jack-queen-king), flush (5 of one suit), full house (three of a kind plus a pair), four of a kind, straight flush (5 sequential cards of the same suit), royal flush (as with straight flush but 10, J, Q, K, A). EDIT: winning hands have been put into the CORRECT order (also i have gotten a flush so i dont see why the previous person wrote that it is not possible in RDR). Players may use any combination of the two cards they hold and the five community cards to form the best five-card hand. The nature of community-card poker games greatly increases the chance of two or more players each having strong hands, thus increasing, the level of action (betting).

Marston can potentially cheat with use of the Elegant Suit, explained below.

Marston can also wear the Gentleman's Attire by joining the Rockstar Social Club. This suit will allow Marston into the high stakes poker game in Blackwater Hotel.

Scrap number 3 of the U.S. Army Outfit can be unlocked by eliminating all other players at the table in Blackwater.

Scrap number 3 of the Walton's Gang Outfit can be unlocked by eliminating all other players at the table in Armadillo.

Cheating at Poker
Marston can cheat while playing poker. When dealing cards, the players must keep the analog in a specific position in order to draw a valuable face card from the bottom of the deck. This is indicated by trying to keep the arrow in the middle of the curve. If it stays too far from the middle it begins to turn red and the other players may begin to notice that something is not right.

Marston then holds this extra card (shown separately on the left side of the screen). At any time when the player is betting the player can attempt to exchange this card for one in their hand. This uses the same analog balance curve as the initial cheating draw, though it is slightly easier to stay in the middle than when dealing. The cheat card then goes into the hand and the card that was chosen to be replaced then goes into the reserve.

Only one card can be stored at any given time and the reserve card is randomly reset if the player chooses to cheat while dealing later in the game. This does bring up possible strategies like exchanging your reserve card for a card that you feel is superior from your hand; especially if you are planning to fold or your strategy did not play out in the flop. Failure to pass off the cheat will result in a challenge to a duel.

Winning a duel is +50 fame, but disarming the person nets +100, so go for a disarm for more fame. For the maximum fame in a duel, go for a disarm and a hatshot. This will net +150

Note : The higher the buy-in, the higher the probability to be detected by other players (ie: it is easy to cheat at the MacFarlane's Ranch and much harder at Blackwater).

Hints

 * 1) Only tap slightly on the LS when cheating, should move slowly and stay in the center.
 * 2) It is impossible to cheat two times while dealing cards.
 * 3) Once you get over 2x as many chips as buy-in leave the table and buy back in so if you do get caught cheating you don't lose all the money.

Real World Gameplay
Poker games can be played with great variety. Games differ in how cards are dealt, how hands are formed, limitation and required bets, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown. In some games, the pot is split between the high and low hands, limits on bets and how many rounds of betting are allowed. In most modern poker games, the first round of betting begins with some form of forced bet. The action then proceeds to the left. Each player in turn must either match the maximum previous bet or fold, losing the amount wagered thus far. A player who antes may also raise, increasing the pot. The betting round ends when all players have either anted or folded. If all but one player folds on any round, the remaining player collects the pot without showing their hand. If more than one player remains in contention after the final betting round, the hands are shown and the winning hand takes the pot.

The game of Texas hold'em was not invented in the real world until the 1920s, and did not see wide popularity until the 1950s. Poker games in American saloons in 1911 would have been primarily draw poker or five-card stud.

Buy-Ins
Poker games all require a 'buy-in' payment to buy your initial chips before you can play. Different locations have different buy-ins.
 * Armadillo: $25 (250 chips)
 * MacFarlane's Ranch: $10 (100 chips)
 * Thieves Landing: $25 (250 chips)
 * Chuparosa: $50 (500 chips)
 * Blackwater: $100 (1000 chips)
 * High stakes in Blackwater: $250 (2500 chips)

Achievements
The player can participate in a game of Poker to obtain the following achievements:

Bugs
Poker sometimes doesn't work:
 * When John sits at the table he will just sit there for 5-6 seconds, and then get back up and be returned his money. (PS3)
 * When John sits at the table, he will sit there for about 5-6 seconds, then get back up, losing his ante. (Xbox 360).
 * Upon losing or quitting a poker game, killing the winner does not yield the winnings of the poker game. Whether at the table, or following them to a dark corner for the murder.
 * At the poker table in Armadillo, when the player sits down there will sometimes be a loud clunking noise which will never stop. (PS3 Confirmed only)
 * At the poker table in Blackwater other player's textures and sometimes the table will disappear to reappear on the next hand. For the Xbox 360 version, this typically happens while it is raining.
 * Easy Money: Go to Mexico and start a game of poker where you have 1000 chips, keep bidding about 50 each round until you have 500 left, then go all in. The Mexicans will all fold and you'll win all the winnings. If 500 doesn't work then go until 750 or higher.
 * When caught cheating and being challenged to a duel by another character, sometimes that character will be duplicated if they exist in town in another capacity; for example, in Armadillo the general store owner Herbert Moon might challenge the player to a duel, and once defeated, either by disarm or death, the player can run into the general store and see him working behind the counter at the same time as he lies dead in the road or is fleeing the area.
 * Sometimes during a game, the other players at the table can get distorted faces and hands.