It's poker night with family and friends: what are you going to play tonight? With help from So Cal Pool Tables, you've got the perfect 8-person poker table to play on. Fortunately, there are nearly as many varieties of poker as there are ways to gamble, so finding something that everyone in your group can learn quickly isn't hard. Here are a few of our favorite versions of poker and how you can pick them up and master them in no time.

"Straight" Poker
As the oldest form of poker, versions of "straight" poker developed in 19th century United States and has grown in popularity across the world ever since. Basically, a complete hand is dealt to each player, and players bet in a single round as high as they want until everyone is satisfied and reveals their hands. This is a good place for beginners to start, although more strategy is allowed in the other forms.

"Stud" Poker
In stud poker, cards are dealt in a combination of face-up and face-down rounds called "streets' ("fourth street' for the fourth card, "fifth street' for the fifth card, etc.), followed by a round of betting for each. This is the next oldest form of poker, with the most popular version being seven-card stud (which deals players two extra cards, three face-down and four face-up, with which they have to make the best hand possible).

"Draw" Poker
"Draw" poker is unique in that once each player has been dealt a complete hand face-down, after betting they are allowed to trade in cards they don't like for new ones from the deck in the hopes of improving the hand. Five-card draw is the most popular of this type of poker.

"Community" Poker
A variation on stud poker, "community" poker is played by giving players an incomplete hand of cards. Then cards are dealt in the center of the table which all players can use to create a full hand of cards. The most popular form of "community" poker is Texas Hold "Em, which has exploded in the last decade as a professional game.

Get your friends and family together this weekend and hold a poker tournament right in your home! So Cal Pool Tables have the right poker tables for your game room, we guarantee it. Explore our collection online here.