Each player gets dealt two personal cards also known as down or hole cards. Then follows a round of betting.
Three board cards are then turned face up on the table together - called the flop, another round of betting follows.
The fourth board card is turned up - know as the the turn, again with another round of betting.
Finally the fifth board card is turned - known as the river, with the final round of betting.
A player may use any combination of the five board cards also known as community cards with any of his two hole cards to make the best five card poker hand from the seven cards available. A player may also use all the community cards and none of his own to form a hand, this is called playing the board.
A dealer button (small disc) is used to show where the dealer is - this moves round in a clockwise direction one place after each hand is played.
The two players to the left of the dealer each have to make a compulsory bet, known as the blinds before any hole cards are dealt - the first is the small blind (half the minimum bet) and second player the big blind (the same size as the minimum bet). This is what gets the action going.
As the dealer button moves round so to do the blinds.
During the first round of betting - known as preflop, the person next on from the big blind is first to act - they may either call (make a bet equal to the big blind), raise (make a bet double the previous bet or more) or fold (giving up their cards and any claim on the pot - the money in the middle).
When the betting comes round to the blinds they must also match or call the size of any bets made to stay in the hand. They also have the option to raise in which case the betting continues until everyone has either folded or matched the bets to stay in the hand.
After the flop the next betting round starts with the player immediately to the left of the dealer (who was the small blind). As well as betting they may check - this is known a offering a free card, if all the other players also check in turn then the next card is turned for free with no-one putting additional money into the pot in that round. However if a player further around the table opts to bet everyone must call (match) or raise that bet until everyone staying in has put the same into the pot. This is the same for all the betting rounds after the flop.
Poker has three main betting structures:
Limit - fixed betting structure where the each bet is set, players can raise and re-raise but only in fixed multiples - usually maximum of 3 raises.
Pot Limit - Players can bet up to the amount in the pot - beware you can end up putting in alot more than you might think playing.
No Limit - Exactly what it says on the tin - anytime a player bet all his money on the table.
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