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Neither a borrower Nor a lender. Hey, Big Spender! Play your tender. Don't be a party poop, Come join Betty Boop At PartyPoker.com. On the lil' CD rom.
Excerpt from Edmond Hoyle's (1672-1769) rules of Poker, edited by Albert H. Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith.
Poker is a popular game throughout the world. It combines principles of card games known hundreds of years ago in Europe and probably long before that in the Orient, but in its present form it is distinctly of American origin. There are hundreds of forms of Poker, but they differ only in details and all follow the same basic principles, so a person who has learned these principles can play without difficulty in any game. The main divisions of Poker are: Closed Poker, in which all of a player's cards are unknown to his opponents; and Open Poker or Stud Poker, in which some of a player's cards are face up and others face down. Closed Poker is now usually encountered in the form of Draw Poker. Subdivisions of these basic forms are: Low Poker, or Lowball, in which the worst hand wins; High-low Poker, in which the best and worst hands split; and Freak or "Dealer's Choice" Games. These forms are described separately on the following pages. Players. Two to ten; best for five to eight. More than eight can play only Stud Poker. In all forms of Poker, each plays for himself.
Cards. A regular pack of 52, occasionally with the addition of the joker. The cards rank: A (high), K Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The ace also ranks low in the sequence 5-4-3-2-A. The joker, when used, is a wild card (see below).
Poker is almost invariably played with poker chips of various colors, each color having a different value.
The Deal. In every form of Poker the cards are dealt one at a time, in clockwise rotation, beginning with the player at the dealer's left. Usually each player receives five cards, but in various forms of the game more cards are dealt, and often some are dealt face up and some face down. These will be described under the separate forms of Poker.
The first dealer is determined when one player takes a pack of cards and deals it around, face up, until a jack falls to one player, who becomes the first dealer. Thereafter the deal rotates from player to player to the left.
The Play. Poker is a game of betting as to which player holds the best hand. All bets made by all players go in a pile of chips called the pot, in the center of the table. The object of the game is to win the pot. The pot may be won in either of two ways: (a) After all players have had full opportunity to bet, there is a showdown in which the hands are shown and the best hand wins. (b) If a player makes a bet that no other player is willing to meet, that player wins the pot without showing his hand; for no one may compete for a pot unless he is willing to meet the highest bet made by any other player. This introduces the factor of bluffing, betting on a weak hand in the hope that all other players will drop out.
Rank of Poker Hands. The following combinations of cards have value in every form of Poker. They are listed in order from highest to lowest.
1. Straight flush--five cards in sequence in the same suit. As between two straight flushes, the one headed by the highest-ranking card wins: A-K-Q-J-10 (called a royal flush) beats K-Q-J-10-9, and 6-5-4-3-2 beats 5-4-3-2-A. The royal flush is the highest standard hand, but when wild cards are used "five of a kind" is the highest.
2. Four of a kind--any four cards of the same rank. As between two such hands, the four higher cards win. Four of a kind beats a full house or any lower hand.
3. Full house--three of a kind and a pair. As between two full houses, the one wins whose three of a kind are composed of the higher-ranking cards. A full house beats a flush or any lower hand.
4. A flush--any hand of five cards all of the same suit. As between two flushes the one containing the highest-ranking card wins. I these two cards tie, the next-highest-ranking card decides; if these two cards tie, the third-highest-ranking card, and so on down to the last card, so that (spades) A-q-10-9-3 beats (hearts) A-Q-10-3-2. A flush beats a straight or any lower hand.
5. A straight--any five cards in sequence but not all of the same suit. As between two straights, the one with the highest-ranking card at the head of the sequence is the winner, the highest possible straight being A-K-Q-J-10 and the lowest possible straight being 5-4-3-2-A. A straight beats three of a kind or anything lower.
6. Three of a kind, such as three sixes, with two unmatched cards. If two players each hold three of a kind, the higher-raking three of a kind wins. This hand beats two pairs or anything lower.
7. Two pairs--two cards of any one rank and two cards of any other rank, with an unmatched card. As between two such hands, the one containing the highest-ranking pair is the winner; if these pairs are the same, the hand with the higher of the two other pairs is the winner; if the two hands contain the identical two pairs, then the higher-ranking unmatched card determines the winner. Two pairs beat any hand with only one pair or with no pair.
8. One pair--any two cards of the same rank. A pair is dealt to a player about twice in every five hands he holds. As between two hands that have one pair each, the pair composed of the higher-ranking cards wins. If both hands have the same pair, the highest of the three unmatched cards determines the winner; if they are the same, the next-highest; and if they are the same, the higher as between the third unmatched cards in the two hands. A hand with only one pair beats any hand which contains no pair and no one of the combinations described in the preceding paragraphs.
9. High card. About one out of two hands that a Poker player holds will consist merely of five unmatched cards. As between two hands of this nature, rank is decided by the rank of the highest card, and if necessary by the next-highest, and so on, as described in paragraph 4 above.
Hands identical in all respects tie; the suits of which the hands are composed never make any difference.
Wild Cards. A joker added to a pack, or any rank or group of cards (usually deuces), may be designated in advance to be wild. The holder of a wild card may cause it to stand for any other card he wishes. Except by special house rules: (a) A wild card ranks exactly the same as the natural card it replaces; and (b) a wild card cannot stand for a card they player already holds, so that there cannot be, for example, a "double-ace-high" flush.
The bug is the joker given restricted wild-card use; It may represent an ace, and it may be used to fill a straight flush, flush or straight. Therefore two aces and the bug are three aces, but two kings and the bug are merely a pair of kings with an ace.
When wild cards are used, five of a kind are the highest-ranking hand. Ties become possible between identical fours of a kind, full houses or threes of a kind. In such cases the rank of the other cards in the hand determines the winner.
Rotation. In Poker the turn to do everything passes from player to player to the left. The cards are dealt in this way; the turn to bet goes from player to player in rotation. No player should do anything until the player on his right has acted.
Rules of Betting. Betting is done during periods of the game called betting intervals. The number of betting intervals depends on what form of the game is being played; for example, in Draw Poker the first betting interval occurs when each player has been dealt his full five cards, and in Stud Poker it occurs when each player has been dealt two cards.
In each betting interval, some player has the first right or duty to bet. Usually there is some minimum and some maximum amount, agreed upon in advance, that he may bet. The proper way is for him to place in the pot the number of chips he bets and at the same time announce the number of chips he is betting. When the designated player has bet, each player in turn after him must do one of the following three things:
1. Drop out of the pot (also known as passing), which means that he discards his hand and may no longer win the pot. A player may thus drop at any time, and when he drops all chips he may have put into the pot previously are forfeited to the pot and will eventually go to the winner of it.
2. Call, which means that he puts in exactly enough chips to make his total contribution to the pot precisely the same as the greatest number of chips put into the pot by any other player. This is also known as staying in.
3. Raise, which means that in addition to enough chips to call he puts in an added amount and now has put in more chips than any other player. The excess is the amount by which he raises, and every other player must either put in as many chips as he, or must drop and forfeit the pot.
For example, a player opens the pot by betting three chips. The next player may call by putting in three chips; he may raise by putting in more than three chips. If he puts in four chips, he has raised one chip; if he puts in six chips, he has raised three chips, and so on. He may not raise by more chips than the limit established for the game. If the second player does raise three chips, and all the other players drop, the player who opened may stay in by putting three more chips in the pot; for then he will have put in precisely as many chips as the second player.
Betting of this nature continues until all the bets are equalized. The bets are equalized when the turn comes around to the player who in his turn made a higher bet than anyone previous to him, and when every intervening player has either exactly called that bet, or dropped. In many forms of Poker, a player is permitted to check. Originally this meant that he made the minimum bet, a chip of such low value that it was hardly worth while putting it in the pot. So when a player checks, it means he has made "a bet of nothing" and each player in turn after him may also check--in effect calling the bet--until any player makes a genuine bet. Thereafter, each player in turn must call, raise, or drop.
For example, assume a seven-hand game and call the players, "a", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F", and "G". "G" is the dealer, so "A" is the eldest hand. Following the deal, "A" and "B" check. "C" opens for five chips (that is, he bets five chips). "D" raises five chips (that is, he puts in ten chips, five to call and five to raise). "E" drops. "F" stays in, putting in ten chips to call. "G" raises ten chips, meaning that he puts in twenty chips in all. "A", who checked on the first round, now has the right to enter the betting; but he drops. "B", who has the same right, puts in twenty chips and calls. "C" calls, putting in fifteen chips (since he put in five chips previously; these fifteen make his total contribution twenty chips, the greatest amount put in by any other player). "D" raises ten more chips, putting in twenty; now he has put in thirty chips altogether. "E", who dropped previously, has no option; once a player drops, he is inactive from that time on. "F", who put in ten chips before, could call by putting in twenty more; but instead he drops, forfeiting the ten chips he put in before. "G" puts in ten chips, making his own total contribution thirty chips, and thus calling the bet. "B" and "C" each put in ten chips, and as in the case of "G" this makes their total contribution the same as any previous player's and means that they both call the previous bet.
Now, of the seven players, three have dropped and the other four have each put in thirty chips, and the turn has come around to "D" again. The bets have been equalized, and "D" may not bet again. This "betting interval" is ended.
Any player who drops out becomes inactive; from that time on, the turn to act still passes in rotation from one player to the other, but only from active player to active player. Limits. Most Poker games are played with a limit of anywhere from five to ten chips. Other popular forms of determining a limit are:
Pot Limit. The player making the first bet in any betting interval may bet as many chips as there are in the pot at the time. Any player after him in the same betting interval may raise by as many chips as there are in the pot after he calls. That is, he may announce his intention to raise by "the size of the pot"; then put in enough chips to call the previous bet; then count the pot and match it for a raise.
When playing with a pot limit, some maximum should nevertheless be set for the highest possible bet or raise. Otherwise, in a seven-hand game, this might happen: The antes make 7 chips. The opener opens for 7. The next player puts in 7 to call; now there are 21 chips in the pot, and he raises 21. The third player must put in 28 chips to call and may now raise 70 chips. This means that the fourth player would have to put up 98 chips merely to call, and could then, if he wished raise 238.
Table Stakes. A more popular way of playing with a variable limit is to let each player's limit be the number of chips he has at the time. For example, players "A", "B" and "C" are competing for the pot; "A" has a stack of 160 chips, "B" has 110 chips, "C" has only 40. "C" can call any bet made by "A" or "B" for his 40 chips; "B" can call any bet made by "A" for his 110 chips. "A" therefore has 50 chips which he cannot use in this pot.
Suppose "B" bets 70 chips. "C" calls it for 40, that being his limit. "A" calls the entire bet, but does not raise. In the showdown the highest hand takes the main pot, but the side pot--the extra 30 chips each put up by "B" and "A"--go to whichever of them has the higher hand.
When playing with table stakes, no one may add to the chips he has on the table after the deal begins, but between deals he may add as much as he wishes. No one may reduce the number of chips he has on the table until he leaves the game, unless the banker's supply of chips is exhausted and he must buy back chips to supply other players.
Arranging The Game. In addition to the table and chairs necessary to seat all the players comfortably (specially built Poker tables are circular, usually felt-covered, and have pits for holding the players' chips), and at least one pack of playing cards, the only essential equipment for the game is a set of poker chips. The poker chips should be in at least three colors, white, red and blue; there should be enough of these chips for every player to have an ample supply.
One member of the game is selected as the banker. He may be the host, or a player chosen by lot. At the start, all the chips are the banker's property. He sells or issues them to the players, the same initial amount to each player, and keeps a record of the number of chips each player has taken. The white chip is always the basic unit; each red chip is worth five whites, and each blue is worth ten whites. When in the course of a game a player runs out of chips, he should replenish his supply by purchasing an additional "stack" from the banker; he should not borrow or buy from other players. Each stack purchased should be precisely of the same amount as the original issue. If the banker's supply needs replenishment, he should redeem one or more stacks from players who by their winning have an excess.
At the start of the game, any layer picks up the cards, shuffles them, and deals them out face up to the players, one by one, in rotation, until any player gets a jack. That player is the first dealer. Except that the banker is given first choice of seats, usually no one in a Poker game cares where he sits. Each takes the seat nearest him. If there is any disagreement, the banker shuffles a pack and deals one card to each player, face up; of these cards, the highest-ranking sits at the dealer's left, next-highest at his left, and so on. In the course of a game a player may demand a reseating at any time, except that there may not be more than one reseating per hour.
The exact procedure in the game then depends upon which form of Poker has been selected. Most popular is Draw Poker, and that will be described first.
And also....
