Basic Poker Rules

Basic Rules

Now that we know what it takes to win, let's focus on how the game itself is played. First to begin, poker is almost always played for cash. Before the game begins, the players should collectively decide on a betting limit. A betting limit keeps the game friendly, and prevents people from gambling mortgages, cars, or spouses away.

1.    First, each player places an ante or "token bet" into the pot before the cards are even dealt. The ante can be anything from a penny (if one is a struggling college student) to thousands of pounds (if one is a Las Vegas high roller). The Ante is essential as it guarantees that someone will always win something on each hand.

2.    Once everyone has stuck in his or her ante, the dealer deals the cards face down around the table, starting at the player to his left and continuing clockwise. The dealer (if he's playing) always deals to himself last. The dealer deals everyone their first card, then goes back around the circle to deal the second, and so on. As soon as everyone has five cards, the remainder of the deck is placed in the middle of the table, and play begins.

3.    Each player looks at his or her cards, and then the first player places a bet. While there are several ways of deciding who bets first, poker novices are best off letting the player directly to the left of the dealer make the first bet. Then on the next hand, the person to his left will bet first, and so on around the table for each new hand.

4.    Players have several options as far as the first round of betting goes. If no one has made a bet yet, the player has two choices:

• Open: If no betting has begun when your turn comes, the player may "open" the pot. This simply means the player makes the first bet (any amount up to the betting limit).

• Check: The opportunity to "check" only occurs if no one has yet opened the betting when it comes time for the player to decide what to do. When a player checks, it means that he or she doesn't want to open the betting, but doesn't want to quit either. It basically means "I do not want to open the betting, but I'm happy to stay i the game and see what happens."

Now let's say that someone opens the betting (at some point, it will occur). The player now has three choices:

See: Also known as 'Call'. When you "see" another player, it means that you match their bet. So if someone bets £1 and you want to stay in the game, you have to "see" their £1 by putting £1 of your own into the pot.

Raise: When you "raise," it requires you to first "see" the previous bet, and then increase the bet. For example, if the previous person bet £1 and you want to bet more than that, you would say "I see (match) your £1, and raise you (increase the bet) another £1.

Fold: When someone else opens, you can always jump ship and cut your losses. In other words, you "fold." The act of folding is to "give up," place your cards face down on the table, lose whatever you've bet so far, and grab a beer. In other words, you give up early and lose your dough. This option is used when you think your hand is too weak to compete.

5.    At this point, all the players who haven't folded are allowed to get rid of the cards they don't want and take some new cards. A player is permitted to get rid of up to 3 unwanted cards and receive up to 3 new ones from the deck (as long as the player always has 5 cards total). No one sees what anyone else discarded (threw away) or drew (got as a new card). It's all done face down

6.    After every player draws 0 to 3 new cards, the betting begins again. The player has the option of opening or checking, and once someone opens, the player can see, raise, or fold. The game ends when there are no more raises (everyone saw everyone else's bet), or everybody folds (except for the winner, of course).

7.    Now it's time for everyone to turn their cards over and see how they fared. The player with the highest hand wins the pot.

The only way to stay in the game is to not fold. If the player has a bad hand and wants out asap, then the player has to seriously consider folding. If the player has what he or she thinks could be a good hand, then the player should seriously consider staying in the game.

If the player has an outstanding hand, then the player will most definitely want to stay in. BUT the player does not want anyone to know that he or she has a great hand, or else the other players will all fold, which would mean that the player (with the great hand) would only win a smal ante pot. Therefore, the trick is to make everyone else bet a lot, and win even more money. It's all about being a good liar and a good actor!