A high card is valued when no combination is possible, and the second highest card breaks ties. A pair consists of two of the same card, and when more than one player has a pair, the highest pair wins. A straight is a five-card hand. A player with a straight is considered the winner when all four of his cards are higher than the dealer’s. To determine which hand is better, a player must make a bet or raise to be in the running.
A player may open the betting round when no bets have yet been placed. He or she can also raise the ante (amount agreed upon in advance) if the previous player has not. The next player takes a turn and checks their hand. After the betting round, players can choose to hold or discard up to three cards. When there are fewer than three cards left, a replacement card will be drawn. When a player has a hand that is worth more than three cards, he must raise his bet to win the pot.
The game of poker has a long history and originated in the United States. A number of variations of the game have been created over the years. For example, Three-Card Monte, Spit-in-the-Ocean, and Omaha are games with fewer than five cards. These games will be described later in this chapter. Organizing a game of Poker for more than ten players involves the use of two separate games. The cards used in each game are different from the others.