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How to Play Poker: Betting Basics. Any experienced poker player will tell you there are two objectives
that go hand in hand—pardon the pun—for every game you play: either win big or lose
small. Here's how. You will need A standard deck of playing cards Money or poker chips
to bet with and a little mental acuity. Step 1. Poker involves rounds of betting into a
shared fund, or "pot," which accumulates in the middle of the table. Each round is followed by receiving
or exchanging cards that depends on the type of poker you're playing. Betting begins with
either the dealer or the player to the dealer's immediate left and proceeds clockwise around
the table. Step 2. Most games begin with a "forced bet", a mandatory bet from every player
before the cards are dealt. This bet may be an "ante", a set amount that each player must
match in order to join the game before the dealing begins, or a "blind" bet, any amount
the first player decides to place as his or her opening bet. In Hold'em games with betting
limits, it's traditional for the blind bet, or the "small blind," to be half the amount
of the betting limit. It's also traditional for the next player's bet, or the "big blind,"
to be twice the small blind. Step 3. After the opening bet, you must decide how to respond
to whatever bet immediately precedes your turn:* You may "fold" by refusing to match
the bet and withdrawing from the game.* You may "call" the bet by matching its amount
in order to stay in the game.* You may "raise" the bet—first matching the previous amount
and then increasing it. Step 4. In "no-limit" poker games, players also have the option
of going "all-in"—matching and raising a bet with all their remaining money or chips.
Step 5. The betting ends when the last player in the turn calls the preceding bet. At that
point anyone who wants to stay in the game must match the final raise amount. Then it's
time to cross your fingers and reveal your cards... Did you know The annual World Series
of Poker event in Las Vegas regularly ends with final pots exceeding one million dollars.