- The dealer shuffles the deck of cards and may often have another player cut the deck. The dealer then deals five cards to each player, including himself. The players will use only these five cards in the game. Each player puts an ante into the pot -- usually the smallest chip value they are using -- to guarantee the winner will get something should all other players fold without betting. Betting then opens with the player to the dealer's left. All other players must either see the opening bet and possibly raise it or fold. The remaining players must see the total bet to stay in the game (opening bet plus all raises), then the bet goes back to the previous players who must see all raises made after their bet. The betting ends after the player before the last raise has either seen the total bet or folded (or all players see the opening bet or fold with no raises). The player with the best hand wins the pot.
- Each player is dealt a starting hand of one face-down card and one face-up card after the opening ante. Players are allowed to look at their own face-down cards. The player with the lowest face-up card opens with a minimum required bet determined by the players or dealer before the game, and the other players then see the bet and possibly raise it (there is usually a three-raise limit per round) or fold. After that round of betting, each player gets another face-up card and another betting round begins; from this point on, the player with the highest up-card opens. This continues until all players have five cards, four face up and one face down, and a final betting round is made after dealing the fifth cards. The minimum opening bet is doubled after the fourth cards are dealt. After all cards are dealt and betting is finished, players turn up their face-down cards and the one with the best hand wins.
- A straight flush, five cards of the same suit in sequential order, is the highest official hand in the game. A hand of Ace-King-Queen-Jack-10 in the same suit is called a royal flush and is the highest straight flush. Five cards of the same value can beat this, but this hand is only possible if wild cards are used. This is followed by four of a kind (four cards of the same value), full house (three of a kind plus two of another kind), flush (five cards of the same suit), a straight (five cards in sequential order), three of a kind, two pairs and one pair. If nobody has any of the above combos, the player with the highest card wins. Card values are the first tiebreaker with the same type of hands (e.g. four kings beat four queens, and a straight with 10 as the high card beats one with nine as the high card). If value can't be a tiebreaker (like with a straight flush of the same value), the card suit is the next tiebreaker. The suit order from best to worst is spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs.
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