Regardless of the specific rules of each individual game, Poker involves the receiving of a certain number of cards. In stud and Hold'em, the cards may be either face up, in which case they are called "board cards" or "table cards", or face down, which makes them "hole cards". In draw poker, all cards are dealt face down.

Rounds of betting occur in between the various rounds of distributing cards. The following is applicable to virtually all versions of poker.

Number of Players

Play is usually limited to seven players per table, sometimes fewer, especially in the case of draw poker, which requires 8-10 cards per player per hand. Seven is the limit in seven card stud. More players in draw poker can theoretically be accommodated by having the dealer recycle sloughed cards for additional draws, but it is uncommon and awkward to do this. Texas Hold'em can easily have as many as 11 to 15 players! Really, the furniture is the main constraint in Hold'em, as the game itself uses only two cards per player, plus five in the middle.

The Deal Rotates

In casinos the house provides the actual dealer, that is, the person who dispenses cards and manages the bets and payoffs. In many poker games, the theoretical "deal" rotates around the table. A button is placed on the felt in front of the player who is in the "dealer" position for that hand. The dealer position may determine the order for blind bets, first round betting, and drawing cards. The person to the left of "the button" is the first to receive cards, and in several games, the first to speak when betting time comes. (In Hold'em it is the person three to the dealer's left.) Play always moves clockwise. (If the dealer is also playing (as in a home game), the dealer always is last in the order of receiving cards.)

Two interesting historical expressions come from the rotating deal. In the old West, a gun was sometimes placed on the table to indicate who had the deal. The lore surrounding this is mainly undocumented, but it may have to do with the fact that the dealer always had the best chance of cheating. By putting the gun on the table, the dealer was essentially saying that he was not going to brook any complaints about his deal. The person to the left of the dealer was said to be "under the gun" and had the obligation to speak first after cards were dealt in a draw poker game. The "UTG" or under the gun player in Texas Hold'em is the one next to the big blind.

The other device to indicate the deal was often a large folding pocket knife called a "buck knife" because the handle was usually covered with buck horn. When the deal moved from one person to the next, it was "passing the buck." Harry Truman, an excellent poker player himself, made the phrase famous when he said "The buck stops here."

Antes and Blinds

The first action, even before a deal is started, is an ante of ½ the minimum bet or some other declared small amount, which is pushed into the betting circle. In some games, like Texas Hold'em, "antes" as such are not required of every-body, but one or two payers may be required to make "blind bets" to get the pot started. (The small blind is the person to the left of the dealer button, and the large blind is to the left of the small blind. The small blind puts up ½ the maximum bet and the big blind puts in a whole maximum bet.) In seven-card stud, there are antes, and a blind half-bet by the person with the lowest face up card ("door") after the deal. Either way, the game starts with priming the pot.

Remember, "ante" means "before." If you do not ante, the dealer is entitled to conclude that you are not playing the hand, and skip you in the deal. Normally, the dealer will not be a jerk, and just remind you.

Betting

When betting begins after cards have been dealt, it always starts with a pre-determined player, depending on which game is being played. Possibilities include the person to the left of the dealer, the person with the lowest (or highest) visible card, or the person to the left of the big blind (if blinds are used). In the latter case, when betting comes around to the small blind, that person can continue in the play or fold, and if folding, will lose the one-half maximum bet. The big blind is the last to bet in the circle, and can continue the play or exit at the cost of one betting unit. When play starts at the dealer's immediate left, it is the person in the position of dealer who is last to speak.

Going last is a benefit in poker. That is why the "deal" must rotate. The compensation for being forced to bet blind (when blinds are used) is being able to bet last on the first round of betting after the deal. The last person to speak in a game with antes can potentially learn that everyone has a weak hand (if they did not bet), and make a strong bet just to see if he or she can steal the (puny) pot. This is called "stealing the blinds."

Betting will start after the first part of the deal has been completed, and continue in accordance with the announced betting limits for that table.

Remember that most casinos require a player to have a minimum "buy in" to sit at a table. In between deals it is always possible to purchase more chips, but never in the middle of a hand. Do so by placing money in front of your space at the table. The dealer will convert this to chips before the next deal.

Winning the Hand

If everyone folds except one player, that player wins the hand. There is no requirement to show the winning hand if everyone folded, unless there was a minimum to open (like "Jacks or better"), in which case, that minimum must be shown on request. The rule is that an active player may see a hand that has been "called" after the round has concluded. If everyone has folded, the hand was not "called."

If not everyone folds, then after all cards have been distributed and all betting has been concluded, there will be a "Showdown." This word has been borrowed for so many other contexts (like gunfights) that its literal meaning has been obscured. To win any part of a disputed pot, a person must show (display) his or her cards down on the table (face up).

"Cards speak." This means that whatever the cards say, that's the outcome, irrespective of what anyone says or does. This is a continuation of the "gestures only" convention in a casino. If you have a straight flush, and say "straight" when showing your hand, the hand, and not the utterance, determines what is true. In days of yore, a cheat might have two pair, perhaps queens and sevens, plus a jack, and put them down quickly, declaring a "full house" and taking in the pot, mucking the cards and shuffling before anyone could say otherwise. This does not occur in Las Vegas, as the surveillance cameras can be checked to resolve any case of doubt. In Vegas, cards not only speak, they keep records.

Players must preserve their showdowns until the dealer declares a winner. The dealer's first act will be to collect the chips in the betting circles of the losing players. As mentioned, an active player has the right to see a called hand at a showdown. Folded hands can not be shown to other players, unless the folding player gives consent, and then all players may see those cards. It is OK not to consent if you are the player doing the folding. All they want to know is whether you were bluffing earlier, and the less they know about what you did, the better it will be for later.

Who is first to show in a showdown? In most games, the last player to bet or raise in the last round of betting is the first to show cards, unless all players are in the game, in which case it is the player who first took some action in the first betting round - the "opener."

Cashing in Chips

Eventually a player decides to stop playing at that table. The player will then "cash in his chips" (in the literal sense and not the figurative one, it is hoped). At the conclusion of the hand in progress, the player will push all the chips out a little, between the player and the betting circle (to avoid making a bet by accident). The dealer will count the chips, possibly "coloring them up" by swapping bigger denominations for a number of the smaller ones. Then the player can go to another table or the cashier. Departing the table is a good opportunity to toke the dealer for being helpful.