You have just been dealt a pair of kings. You don’t have the best hand, but it’s better than nothing. Fortunately, you didn’t need aces to win the hand. But you still need to know how to play poker to win. Here are some tips:
Betting structure: Poker has several betting structures, including pot-limit and fixed-limit games. In a fixed-limit game, each player can bet a certain amount of chips. In a pot-limit game, players can raise any amount of chips up to the limit, which is determined by the number of previous bets and calls. But you have to keep in mind that you can’t bet more than the amount you need to call your opponent.
Playing poker requires chips. There are four types of chips: red, blue, and white. For each color, a different chip is worth different amounts of money. The lowest-value chip is called a white chip. A red chip is worth five whites. Blue chips are valued at two, four, or five reds. Each player must “buy in” to play poker. Usually, each player buys in the same amount of chips, which is known as the “buy-in.”
The game of poker has many variations, including versions for two to four players, three-card Monte, and spitting in the ocean. The rules and variations are discussed later in this chapter. The name “poker” comes from a French game called poque, from which the English word is derived. The game then evolved into different forms in other languages, including German pochen and a new version of primero. After that, the French settlers brought poker to North America.
