Poker has been played since the 18th century and is with all of its variations one of the most widely played games in the world of today, both live and online. This may seem strange at first for the game is rather bland and uninteresting in itself. There is, however, an external element which has attached itself to the game and become closely associated with it: the element of real money stakes. It is obvious that poker owes much of its popularity to real money stakes. Without them the game is just a pile of boring cards. With them, the game suddenly becomes interesting. You can make a living off of it; you can lose a fortune on it; you get anticipation, thrill and ultimately real results from playing.