Poker box front

Games Public domain, 1850

Poker

Five cards, a pile of chips, and the question of what everyone else is holding.

2–8players
30–120minutes
18+ages
Light-medium

About the game

Poker is a family of betting games played with a standard deck and a set of chips. In the most common form each player is dealt two private cards and five shared cards are turned face up in stages.

Players bet on the best five-card hand they can make from the seven they can see. A hand can also be won without the best cards, by betting enough that everyone else folds.

The draw and stud variants work the same way: private cards, rounds of betting, and a showdown for the pot.

A round, in order

  1. 1

    Ante up

    Put the opening chips in the pot, and deal each player their private cards.

  2. 2

    Bet

    In turn, check, bet, call, raise or fold, as the shared cards arrive.

  3. 3

    Showdown

    The remaining hands are compared, and the best five-card hand takes the pot.

Credits

Design
Traditional
Publisher
Public domain, 1850
On this table
Live
Cover
Cover: Mixolydian, after the traditional French deck.
  • Betting
  • Bluffing
  • Hidden information