Contents
Poker Fundamentals
Hands and Hand Rankings in Poker
Dealers and Dealing
Betting
Winning the Pot
Basic Poker Game Variations
General Poker Strategy
Five-Card Draw and Variations
Seven-Card Stud and Variations
Texas Hold’em and Variations
Where to Play Poker
Tournament Poker
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Dealers and Dealing
Every game of poker has a dealer—a person who deals the cards to the other players. In most poker games, the dealer goes last in each betting round.
In many casual games at home, each player takes a turn dealing, with the responsibility rotating clockwise around the table. In casinos, the physical dealing is done by the same person every round, but the role of “dealer” still rotates among the players, along with the chance to go last in a betting round. A button, such as a chip or other small item, is placed in front of the person who is the “dealer” for that hand.
How Cards Are Dealt
Depending on the game being played, cards may be dealt in a few different ways:
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Up cards and down cards: Certain cards may be dealt to each player face up, so everyone can see them, while others may be dealt face down, so only the player who received the cards can see them. In poker instructional guides, down cards are often indicated by being written in parentheses:
. - Hole cards and community cards: In Texas h old’em and other community card games, your hand is made up of two types of cards. Hole cards, also called pocket cards, are dealt face down to you and are part of your hand only. Community cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table, and all players at the table can use them to form their respective hands. The community cards in a game are sometimes referred to collectively as the board.
The Dealing Ritual
The act of dealing typically follows the same ritual every time:
- Shuffling the cards: Before dealing the cards, the dealer shuffles them thoroughly. Casinos often have shuffling machines, but in home games shuffling is done by hand, using any of a variety of techniques.
- Cutting the cards: After the cards have been shuffled, the dealer offers the cards to the person sitting to his right, who is responsible for cutting the cards. Cutting the cards means picking up roughly half of the cards from the top of the deck and placing them beside the bottom half, on the side closer to the dealer. The dealer completes the cut by reassembling thFe deck so that the half that was on the bottom is now on top, changing the order of the cards.
- Dealing order: The dealer deals the first round of cards clockwise to each player, starting with the person to her left. Each player is dealt one card at a time, going all the way around the table. If the specific poker game calls for it, each player is dealt another single card, then another, and so on.
- Looking at your cards: Players typically wait until all the cards are dealt before looking at their own cards.
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