How to Play Poker

Playing poker online can be an exhilarating experience that is fun, challenging and can be very rewarding, however players need to keep in mind that poker is different from other gambling games such as slots or roulette as it is not strictly a game of luck and while luck does play a part in determining a player's hand, the game itself is based on skill and winning or losing depends on how a player plays the hand they were dealt rather than the value of the hand itself.

In the most common forms of poker playing the role of Dealer rotates among the players. The player in the Dealer position in marked with a token known as the Dealer Button.

When playing poker in a casino there is a professional dealer that handles dealing the cards but the use of the Dealer Button remains and rotates among the players to indicate to the professional dealer from which player to deal the cards during each hand.

The rotation of the Dealer position is important as the betting order is determined by the Dealer position and sets out which one or two players will be called upon to make Forced Bets. The Forced Bets are either an Ante bet or a Blind bet (in some games it can be both) and their purpose it to commit certain players to the game and getting the betting started prior to any player seeing their cards.

Once the initial dealer is decided and the Ante and/or Blind bets are made, the dealer shuffles and deals the cards clockwise to each player around the table, dealing only one card per player at a time. In some establishments it is customary for the dealer to offer the shuffled deck for a Cut to the player to the right of the dealer. The player can then choose to cut the deck or pass on the privilege by tapping the offered deck of cards.

The dealer deals each player the appropriate amount of cards for the poker variant played. In some games the cards can be dealt face-down and are only for the player to see, and in other variants the cards can be dealt face-up.

After the Forced bets and the initial deal the players will start several betting rounds. Depending on the poker variant the player gets to develop their poker hand in-between the betting rounds by being dealt additional hole-cards, additional communal cards or is given the option to exchange some of the cards they were dealt.

The way that the player hand is developing will determine whether or not the player wants to play that hand, make bets or call bets and how much of their bankroll they are willing to wager on that hand.

Players may choose to Bluff other players by pretending they have a high ranking poker hand and betting aggressively in the hope of making other players fold their hand and thus win the hand without having to reveal their cards.

Bluffing is a major aspect of poker playing and the ability to bluff well is what sets apart the amateurs from the professionals.

All the bets made during the game, including the initial Forced bets are collected throughout the game in a communal pot. At the end of the last betting round if there is only one player in the hand, then this player wins all the money collected in the pot, however if there is more than one player than there is a Showdown where all remaining players reveal all their cards to determine the winner.

The pot can be won by more than one player in cases where players' hands tie. In such cases the pot will be evenly split among all the winners.

Once the winnings have been paid to the winner, the dealer will move the dealer button clockwise to the next player and start another poker hand.