There are many different variations of Poker. While there are no rules that say how many players can participate in a poker game, the number usually falls between six and eight. Each player in a poker game has an opportunity to make as many bets as possible, which are collectively called the “pot.” The player with the best poker hand wins the pot. The player with the highest value of his poker hand will win the pot if he makes a bet that no other player calls.
The minimum possible hand in poker is seven cards, including the ace. A pair of aces, for example, is the lowest hand. Other players can make lower hands by laying their bets on different cards. For more players, a separate game is played for each hand. All variations of Poker are described in greater detail later in this chapter. The following example illustrates how low pairs are played. In this example, the lowest possible hand is seven-five-four-three-two.
Players may bet or check their hand. In the game of poker, the player to the left of the big blind will usually act first. The player to his left, known as the “small blind,” will then be dealt cards according to his or her hand. After the first two cards are dealt, the dealer will “burn” one card from the top of the deck to make the first three community cards face up. When the dealer “cuts” the small blind, he must offer the shuffled pack to the opponent for a cut.