Basics of Poker Rules

The amount of players in a poker game can range from as little as 2 players up to a maximum of 14 players. The most popular is having 5 to 8 players playing poker, and every player for themselves.

Poker is usually played with the standard 52 card deck. For different variations of poker there can be jokers added to the deck. The most popular however is the standard 52 cards. Sometimes there will be second deck of cards being used to help speed up the game. The second deck of cards will be in a different colour to limit the possibility of cheating! While the first deck of cards are being dealt, the second deck will be shuffled and prepared for the next game. This reduces the amount of time between games. The deck is generally cut to the dealer's left when there are two decks being used. When on deck is used, the deck will be cut to the dealer's right.

A player may always request that a new deck of cards be brought in to play if they feel that the deck has been tampered with. When this happens the new deck will be brought out and the packaging cellophane and it's seal will be removed in front of all of the players.

Obviously the object of the game is to winning the pot. The pot is a result of all of the players' bids, either in the form of money or chips.

This brings us to betting. The ante, (in some poker games an initial contribution must be made before the cards are even dealt) when applicable will be the first bets made. The bets are done clockwise around the table starting with the person to make the first bet. Every player in turn must either call the bet (betting an amount equal to the previous player's bet), or raise the bet (betting an amount equal to that of the previous player's bet plus their own raise) to stay in the game for that particular deal. If the player doesn't beleive that their hand has good enough chances of winning they may fold their cards, forfitting the pot for that deal and their cards. The betting will continue until all of the players staying in the game for that deal have place bets equal to one another.

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