Online casinos are big businesses in Thailand, with many to choose from. If you check out AsianCasinoCentral.com you’ll see it’s a great resource that compares all the leading online casinos in the country and Asia.
Online casinos offer a range of casino table and card games – roulette, poker, blackjack, and more – plus a fantastic choice of virtual slot machines, some with simply colossal possible jackpots.
But what if you want to play the traditional Thai gambling game Pokdeng? Well, some online casinos feature Pokdeng, so let’s have a look at why this fast and fun game is so popular.
What Is Pokdeng?
Pokdeng is a traditional card game played in Thailand and other countries using a standard 52-card card deck. It is a betting game, and it is unusual in that while it involves several players – up to 17, in fact – each player is playing against the dealer and not the other players.
Pokdeng is unusual in another way, as the dealer can decide whether to deal clockwise or anti-clockwise. The play follows the order of dealing. Pokdeng scoring can be quite complex, and we don’t have adequate space to cover it in detail, so we’ll look at how it’s played briefly.
How to Play Pokdeng
The basic rules for playing Pokdeng are as follows:
· The players place their bets.
· The dealer shuffles and deals two cards to each player, ending with the dealer.
· Each player may stay or draw one card.
· The dealer may compare his or her hand against select players.
· The dealer may draw a card.
· The dealer compares his or her hand against the rest of the players.
The scoring is where it would take an unfamiliar player a while to get used to things. The aim is to get the highest ‘taem’ this being the scoring term. A taem of 8 or 9 is a high score.
Like poker, Pokdeng also looks at flushes, pairs, and trios. They also rank straights and straight flushes, which are considered unique hands. The advantage of Pokdeng as an online game is that a hand can take only a couple of minutes to play and sometimes a mere few seconds.
In traditional Thai physical Pokdeng games, the stakes can be high, and with the online casino version, the stake will be as the house has determined. Look for the best betting options, and be sure to learn the scoring of hands before you begin to play.
Why is Pokdeng Popular?
Pokdeng can be considered an Eastern version of ‘Brag,’ a form of fast-played three-card poker. The game is popular in Thailand as it is considered a local card game and can be seen played in parks and open spaces across the country.
Check out the online casinos at the link we gave you above, and you will find those that offer Pokdeng and other traditional games alongside standard casino cards and table games.