Establish the theme and intent.
Whatever architecture and implementation technology is used to support the requirements for a poker game, it is best to be flexible, not only in terms of poker and cards, but also perhaps in terms of games in general. Thus the poker game may be adaptable, possibly becoming a bridge game or some other type of game that shares only the concept of gaming with the original concept of a poker game. Certainly this last requirement should not be taken too seriously in developing a totally adaptable, extensible, solve-it-all design, but with this principle in mind, one may have a better background into the possible scenarios for future development and extension of the platform.