Object Of The Poker Game
The player's object in poker is to win the money in the pot—the accumulation of bets and antes gathered in the center of the table. You can win in two ways. The first way is to have the highest ranking hand at the showdown—the final act in poker, where all active players' hands are revealed to see who has the best one. The second way is to be the last one in when all other players have dropped out of play. In these instances, there is no showdown and the remaining player automatically wins the pot.
PARTICIPANTS
Poker can be played with as few as two players to as many as the 52-card deck can support, usually around eight or nine players. One version of poker, hold 'em, can theoretically support as many as twenty players, though games with more than eleven players are rarely seen in any poker variation.
In a private game, one of the players is designated as the dealer—the person who shuffles and deals the cards to the players. The dealer position changes with each hand, rotating around the table in a clock-wise direction, with each player having a chance to deal. The dealer is still an active player in a private game and enjoys no advantage other than any positional edge he may have for the particular game played.
In casino poker, the dealer is a house employee and non-player. In addition to shuffling and dealing the cards, the house dealer is responsible for supervising and generally running the game. He ensures that all betting is in order and that the proper procedures of play are followed.
In online casino variations where the dealer enjoys a positional advantage, such as hold 'em, lowball, Omaha, and draw poker, a button is utilized to designate the imaginary dealer's position. The button rotates around the table, one spot at a time, in clockwise fashion, so that, as in the private game, each player in turn has a chance to enjoy the advantages of acting last.
Each player in poker plays by himself and for himself alone against all other players. Collusion or partnership play are both illegal and are considered cheating.
Tags: casino poker, poker, private game