Start the game
The gambling game that it is, the player must bet on something (ante), just to start the game. Later all the players bet in the pot. At the end of each hand, the highest hand wins the pot. During the play there are three decisions for a player to make; call, raise and fold. The player may call out ‘Open’ when he wants to place the initial bet. In the first round it is called Opening the pot. Some variations have rules which allow the player to open only if he has Jack or anything better to open. In case no one opens the bet, a player can pass or ‘Check’ which means zero bet. In case, all the players decide to Check, then one round of betting is over, without any additional money added in the pot. This is called the Free round. ‘Call’ is when the player places the bet which is actually higher than the last time he bet. Raise is when you further increase some amount to the calling amount, there is some limit usually. Fold is when a player drops out of the current hand and he is not required to place any bets in the pot. A player may tell verbally that he needs to fold or he can discard face down cards hand into the ‘muck’, which is where all discarded cards are kept. Betting continues till everyone calls or folds after an initial bet. It is a game which relies on the skill of a gambler and luck and chance has a little role to play. A very skilled player of poker is unbeatable.