Poker ExplainedPoker Explained
Part 1 of a 5 part series by Don Lewis of Poker-Times.com
The Cards
The game of poker is conducted with a fifty-two card deck consisting of four
suits (Spades, Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds) of thirteen cards each (2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace.) Some games of Draw and Lowball are
played with a fifty-third card, known as a bug or joker. (The bug can only
be used as an ace in a straight or in a flush.) Except in the special case
of the bug, there are no wild cards in any poker game in a public card room.
An Ace can serve as either the highest card (above a King) or the lowest
card (below a two) or both, as the player holding the Ace may decide. Each
player is dealt a pre-determined number of cards, depending on the game of
poker being played.
Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades
Unlike other card games, (such as spades) in poker, one suit does not have
superiority over another suit except in a few situations, which are
discussed later. Suits do not count in the ranking of hands. A flush of one
suit does not take priority over a flush of another suit. Suits can be used in determining the lowest or highest card for a forced bet, assigning seats, resolving disputes. For these purposes only, suits are ranked alphabetically, from lowest to highest (Clubs being the lowest, Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades being the highest.)
The Money
The game is a contest for a “pot of money”, which grows in the course of
each hand. The game begins with blind bets or antes (money the players put
into the pot before they see their cards.) As players receive their cards
and consider the potential strength of the hands they hold relative to the
hands they think their opponents hold and other variables, they add
additional money to the pot by making and calling bets and raises. The
process of betting, calling and raising continues through a number of
betting rounds until all the cards have been dealt as to the rules of the
game, or until one player is left after all others players have folded. After the
last card has been dealt there is a final betting round. And then a showdown
where all players turn over there cards one at a time starting with the last
person to bet.
The Action
The contest of the game of poker is made up of five possible player actions:
Check, Bet, Call, Raise and Fold. Which player acts first and what the
player's choices are depend upon the rules of the particular game, as more
fully described in the next few articles in this series.
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