Poker is any of several card games where players place their bets over which specific hand is greater according to the rules of the game. The game has gained popularity in recent times and is now played by people of all ages and in a variety of locations. Poker games are played for fun and for profit and many people play for both reasons. There is no universal agreement about the rules of poker, however most casinos and poker rooms ensure that poker is played fairly and is fairly played.
Poker is played with seven (7) cards. A player may act as both a dealer and a player. If a player acts as a dealer they will pass the active player card and another card to be dealt to the inactive player, called the blind. When the blind is turned over the active player does not receive another card and is considered as having passed their turn. Then the dealer will deal five cards to the active player and take one card from the deck, called the flop, and deal seven more to the blind.
A player can act as a single player or as a multi-player dealer. In a multi-player game each player is dealt a hand consisting of three cards face down, two cards face up, and a high card and low card face down. The dealer then deals five cards to the low card and another five to the high card. At this point the pot increases dramatically, because if the second hand has a high card it counts as a low card for that player and vice versa. If, at the end of the flop, the pot is larger than the starting hand, then the player who has the best combination in the multiple player table wins.
In a seven-card stud, there are two jacks, called the low cards and the high cards. The stud is seven cards across, including two that are hidden. If you have an even chip, you are looking at a flush, which is worth two points, but if you have an odd chip you are looking at either a straight or a full house. If you have an odd chip you are usually going to get a low card, and if you have a full house you are usually going to get a high card. The pot is reduced by the number of players in the pot. If you have an even chip and you are in a seven-card stud, you are often going to get a low card or a full house.
The best five-card poker hand occurs when you have an even chip with a full house and there are at least seven cards to your opponents. You bet the same amount as the opponents, win the pot because you had the best combination, and then ask for your opponents’ betting patterns. These patterns will tell you how many players are bluffing and whether they have the strongest five-card hands or are forced to fold because they are behind in the betting.
“EVEN” CARDS: Starting hands in poker are called “even” hands in the sense that they do not represent a bargain or a bad hand. They only have value if you have the best cards possible, because you can get them without having to worry about being exposed. “Even” cards are usually dealt face up. “flush” means that all of the starting hands are a flush – they have no raises or flushes, and they are all low cards. “Joker” means that any two of the starting hands of a raise or a flush, and” straights” mean that any two of the starting hands have a straight or a four of a kind. “Exclusive” means that any two cards of the same rank are always raises or flushes, and that you can only use one of them in a turn.