Home Poker

Betting

Betting goes in sequence. Typically, the player to the left of the dealer opens the betting round, unless otherwise specified in the rules of a particular game. "Opening the betting round" meanss making the first bet. The player has the option not to open the betting, in which case the option moves to the player to his or her left, and continues in clockwise order.

When the betting reaches a player in turn, that player has three options:

• See the bet and call - This means the player matches the previous bet and does not raise that amount at all.
• See the bet and raise - That player matches the previous bet and 'bumps' the bet with more money, now making it more expensive for others who want to stay in the game.
• Fold - The player decides that the amount of bet money that has reached him or her is not worth it based on the hand he or she is holding. A player folds by putting down their hand face-down (nobody can see what cards you were holding) and not paying anything into the pot. That player does not stand to lose any more money in this game, but has also eliminated his or her chances of winning the pot in the end.

Players may bet for any of several reasons. The player may have a good hand and is confident that he'll win the pot, so he wants to increase the pot amount. Or the player knows that other players have lousy hands and will stay in the game as long as it doesn't cost them anything, so he bets to eliminate such players from the game (called "keeping everybody honest"). Or the player might have horrible hand and try bluffing, betting high to imply a good hand and scare off other players.

Adapted from HomePoker.com