POKER

POKER Poker is a family of card games involving betting and individualistic play whereby the winner is determined by the ranks and combinations of their cards, some of which remain hidden until the end of the game. THERE ARE FOUR MAIN FAMILIES OF VARIANTS, LARGELY GROUPED BY THE PROTOCOL OF CARD-DEALING AND BETTING: • STRAIGHT A complete hand is dealt to each player, and players bet in one round, with raising and re-raising allowed. STUD POKER Cards are dealt in a prearranged combination of face-down and face-up rounds, or streets, with a round of betting following each. DRAW POKER A complete hand is dealt to each player, face-down, and after betting, players are allowed to attempt to change their hand (with the object of improving it) by discarding unwanted cards and being dealt new ones. COMMUNITY CARD POKER CALSO KNOWN AS FLOP POKER) A variation of Stud, players are dealt an incomplete hand of face-down cards, and then a number of face-up community cards are dealt to the center of the table, each of which can be used by one or more of the players to make a 5-card hand. 5. POKER TIPS All poker games begin with some forced wager over which poker players compete. In any basic poker game, players strategically wager using a number of actions available to them. The actions are as follows: BLUFFING To bluff in Poker is to make a bet on a hand the player knows, or believes, is not the best, in the hope that other players will believe his cards are strong and will drop out. INTENTIONALLY BREAKING THE RULES In most circles it is not considered ethical to announce, out of turn, an intention to bet, raise, or drop, if there is no intention of doing so when the player's turn comes. SPLITTING POTS In all Poker circles it is considered unethical, and close to cheating, to split a pot rather than have a showdown. BETTING BLIND When a player announces that he is betting (or checking) "blind,"(that is, without looking at his hand), it is considered unethical if the player has, in fact, seen his hand. POKER GAME RULES CHECK J If there is no wager on the current betting round, a player may check. The act of checking passes the action to the next person, immediately clockwise from the player. BET If there is not yet a wager on the current betting round, a player may bet. If a player bets, the player immediately clockwise from him or her (and any subsequent players) may fold, raise, or call. FOLD• The act of folding forfeits all interest in the pot. A player who folds is not required or allowed to wager any further money during the current poker hand, but cannot win that hand either. CALL• If there has been a bet on the current round of poker play, a player may call. The act of calling requires the player to match the current bet made by his or her opponent(s). RAISE If there has been a bet on the current betting round, a player may raise. The act of raising requires the poker player to match the current bet, and then make a greater one. BROUGHT TO YOU BY