Although countless variants of poker are described in the literature of the game, they
all share certain essential features. A 👏 poker hand comprises five cards . The value of
the hand is in inverse proportion to its mathematical frequency; that 👏 is, the more
unusual the combination of cards, the higher the hand ranks. Players may bet that they
have the 👏 best hand, and other players must either call (i.e., match) the bet or
concede. Players may bluff by betting that 👏 they have the best hand when in fact they do
not, and they may win by bluffing if players holding 👏 superior hands do not call the
bet.
poker , card game , played in various forms throughout the world, in which 👏 a
player must call (i.e., match) the bet, raise (i.e., increase) the bet, or concede
(i.e., fold). Its popularity is 👏 greatest in North America , where it originated. It is
played in private homes, in poker clubs, in casinos , 👏 and over the Internet . Poker has
been called the national card game of the United States , and its 👏 play and jargon
permeate American culture .
General principles
There are forms of poker suitable to any
number of players from 2 👏 to 14, but in most forms the ideal number is 6, 7, or 8
players. The object is to win 👏 the “pot,” which is the aggregate of all bets made by all
players in any one deal. The pot may 👏 be won either by having the highest-ranking poker
hand or by making a bet that no other player calls. The 👏 following principles apply to
nearly all forms of poker.
Cards Poker is almost always played with the standard
52-card deck, the 👏 playing cards in each of the four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds,
clubs) ranking A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 👏 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A (low only in the
straight [a series of five cards numbered consecutively] 👏 or straight flush [a series of
five cards numbered consecutively within the same suit] 5-4-3-2-A and in certain
variants described 👏 below). In social play, especially in “dealer’s choice” (i.e., a
card-playing session in which each player takes a turn at 👏 dealing the cards and
selecting the game), certain cards may be designated wild cards. A wild card stands for
any 👏 other card its holder wishes to name. There are many methods of introducing wild
cards into the game. The most 👏 popular are: . A 53-card pack is used, including the
joker as a wild card. Joker . A 53-card pack 👏 is used, including the joker as a wild
card. Bug. The same 53-card pack including the joker is used, but 👏 the joker—here called
the bug—counts only as a fifth ace or to fill a flush [a series of five cards 👏 of the
same suit], a straight, or certain special hands. Deuces wild. All four deuces (2s) are
wild cards. One-eyes. 👏 In the standard pack the king of diamonds, jack of spades , and
jack of hearts are the only cards 👏 shown in profile. They are often designated as wild
cards.
Rank of poker hands The rank of standard poker hands is 👏 determined by their odds
(probability). Two or more identical hands tie and divide any winning equally. The
suits have no 👏 relative rank in poker. When there is any wild card in the game, the
highest possible hand is five of 👏 a kind, which beats any straight flush. When there are
several wild cards, there may be identical fours of a 👏 kind or threes of a kind, in
which case ties are broken by the highest unmatched cards or secondary pairs 👏 (in a full
house [a five-card hand made up of three of a kind and a pair]). Get a Britannica
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Deal At the
start of the game, any player takes a 👏 pack of cards and deals them in rotation to the
left, one at a time faceup, until a jack appears. 👏 The player receiving that card
becomes the first dealer. The turn to deal and the turn to bet always pass 👏 to the left
from player to player. For each deal, any player may shuffle the cards, the dealer
having the 👏 last right to shuffle. The dealer must offer the shuffled pack to the
opponent to the right for a cut. 👏 If that player declines to cut, any other player may
cut. A professional dealer is used in poker clubs, casinos, 👏 and tournament play, where
a round disc (known as a dealer button) is passed clockwise each hand to indicate the
👏 nominal dealer for betting purposes. Also, such environments almost invariably charge
the players either by setting an hourly rental fee 👏 for their seats or by “raking” a
small percentage (say, 5 percent) from each pot.
Betting procedure In each deal there
👏 are one or more betting intervals according to the specific poker variant. In each
betting interval, one player, as designated 👏 by the rules of the variant being played,
has the privilege or obligation of making the first bet. This player 👏 and each player in
turn after him must place in the pot the number of chips (representing money, for which
👏 poker is almost invariably played) to make his total contribution to the pot at least
equal to the total contribution 👏 of the player before him. When a player does this, he
is said to be in the pot, or an 👏 active player. If a player declines to do this, he
discards his hand and is said to drop or fold, 👏 and he may no longer compete for the
pot. Before the deal, each player may be required to make a 👏 contribution to the pot,
called an ante. In each betting interval, the first player to make a bet is said 👏 to
bet, a player who exactly meets the previous bet is said to call, and a player who bets
more 👏 than the previous bettor is said to raise. In some variants, a player is permitted
to check, which is to 👏 stay in without betting, provided no other player has made a bet
in that betting interval. Since a player cannot 👏 raise his own bet, each betting
interval ends when the betting turn has returned to the person who made the 👏 last raise
or when all players have checked. At the end of each betting interval except the last,
dealing is 👏 resumed. At the end of the last betting interval, there is the “showdown,”
in which each active player shows his 👏 full hand, and the highest-ranking hand wins the
pot.
