Poker is a card game in which players bet by placing chips into a pot. The player with the highest ranked hand when all the cards are shown wins the pot. In addition, players may also choose to bluff during the course of a hand. The dealer shuffles the cards and deals them to the players one at a time, starting with the player on their left. After the initial deal, the first of several betting rounds begins.
The dealer is responsible for collecting the bets placed into the pot and spreading them out evenly among players. The dealer must be able to judge the strength of each player’s hand and distribute chips appropriately, making sure that players are not “splashing” the pot (putting in a lot of money on every bet without raising any more than their opponents).
Once a player has placed all of their chips into the pot, they can no longer call or fold the rest of the way through the hand. If they do not hold a high enough hand to win, they must move on to another table or to the next hand.
The key to writing interestingly about Poker is in the details of the player’s reactions and the by-play between them. If you describe a series of bets, checks, and reveals that do not add any new information about the players then your article will seem lame or gimmicky.
