A game of official poker is a card game in which players wager over the value of a hand according to the rules of that particular game. It can be played with any number of cards and may involve one or more betting rounds. The basic rule is that players have to place their bets in order of their rank in the hand, with the best hand winning. The game is very popular, and it can be played for pennies in private homes or professionally for thousands of dollars in a famous casino poker room.
Some of the basic rules of poker include:
Players must protect their cards by putting their hands or chips on top of them. This is important because if a player accidentally exposes his or her card, it will be considered a dead hand and the player will not be allowed to raise during subsequent betting intervals. Players must be at their seats by the time the cards are dealt on the initial deal. The dealer button (or buck) is rotated to indicate a nominal dealer for each hand.
Usually, a standard 52-card pack is used in poker. However, many clubs use two packs of contrasting colors in order to speed up the dealing process. The previous dealer assembles the cards from the pack he or she dealt, shuffles them, and then passes the re-shuffled deck to the next player. If the deck is not re-shuffled before the next deal, it will not be dealt correctly. Chips must be kept in clean vertical stacks so that TDs and players can easily count them. Discretionary color ups are permitted, but they must be announced.