make the first announcement of his opinion of his hand, unless he has
straddled, in which case the player on the left of the last straddler
has the first “_=say=_.” If he considers his hand good enough to draw
to, let us say a pair of Kings, he must place in the pool, or toward
the centre of the table, double the amount of the blind, or of the
last straddle, if any. This is called the ante, because it is made
before playing the hand, whereas the blind is made before seeing it.
The player is not restricted to double the amount of the blind or
straddle; he may bet as much more as he pleases within the limit fixed
at the beginning of the game. For instance: If there has been only one
straddle he must put up four white counters or pass out of the game for
that deal. But if he puts up the four, he may put up as many more as
he pleases within the limit, which is two blues, or fifty whites. This
is called _=raising the ante=_. If he does not care to pay twice the
amount of the blind or straddle for the privilege of drawing cards to
improve his hand, he must throw his cards face downward on the table in
front of the player whose turn it will be to deal next. Reasonable time
must be allowed for a player to make his decision; but having made it,
he must abide by it; a hand once thrown down cannot be taken up again,
and counters once placed in the pool, and the hand removed from them,
cannot be taken out again, even though placed in the pool by mistake.
The player who has the first say having made his decision, the player
next him on the left must then decide. He must put into the pool an
amount equal to that deposited by the first player, or abandon his
hand. Suppose there has been no straddle, and that all conclude to
_=stay=_, as it is called. They each in turn put up two white counters
until it comes to the age. The one white counter he has already put up
as a blind belongs to the pool, but by adding one to it he can make his
ante good, and draw cards, always provided no player has raised the
ante. If any player has put more counters into the pool than the amount
of the ante, all the other players must put up a like amount, or throw
down their hands. Suppose five play, and A has the age. B antes two
counters, and C puts up seven, the ante and a raise of five. If D and E
come in, they must put up seven counters also; and the age, A, must put
up six to make his ante good. It now comes to B, who must either lose
the two he has already put up, or add five more to them. Let us suppose
that D puts up the seven, and that E, the dealer, puts up twelve. This
will force the age to put up eleven; B to put up ten; and C to put up
five more. This will make each player’s ante an equal amount, twelve
counters, and they will then be ready to draw cards. No one can now
raise the ante any further, because it is no one’s turn to “say.”
It will thus be seen that every player in his turn can do one of three
things, which are sometimes called the _=a b c=_ of Poker: He can
_=Abdicate=_; by throwing down his hand, and abandoning whatever money
he has already placed in the pool. He can _=Better=_; by putting up
more money than any player before him, which is sometimes called “going
better.” Or, he can _=Call=_, by making his amount in the pool equal to
the highest bet already made.
Should any player increase the ante to such an extent that none of the
others care to call him, they must of course throw down their hands,
and as there is no one to play against him, the one who made the last
increase in the ante takes down all the counters in the pool. This is
called _=taking the pot=_, and the cards are gathered, shuffled, and
dealt again, the deal passing to the player who was the age.
_=DRAWING CARDS.=_ All those who have made the ante good have the
privilege of discarding, face downward, as many cards as they please,
in the place of which they may draw others. The age has the first draw,
and can take any number of cards from one to five, or he may _=stand
pat=_, refusing to draw any. A player cannot receive from the dealer
more or less cards than he discards; so that if a person is allowed to
play with a short hand, of four cards only, he will still have only
four cards after the draw. If his hand was foul, it will remain so
after the draw. In drawing, a player may keep or discard what cards he
pleases. There is no rule to prevent his throwing away a pair of aces
and keeping three clubs if he is so inclined; but the general practice
is for the player to retain whatever pairs or triplets he may have,
and to draw to them. Four cards of a straight or a flush may be drawn
to in the same way, and some make a practice of drawing to one or two
high cards, such as an ace and a king, when they have no other chance.
Some hands offer opportunities to vary the draw. For instance: A player
has dealt to him a small pair; but finds he has also four cards of a
straight. He can discard three cards and draw to the pair; or one card,
and draw to the straight; or two cards, keeping his ace in the hope
of making two good pairs, aces up. The details of the best methods
of drawing to various combinations will be discussed when we come to
suggestions for good play.
[Illustration:
🂱 🂴 🃒 🂣 🃄
]
In drawing cards, each player in turn who has made good his ante,
beginning with the age, must ask the dealer for the number of cards he
wants. The demand must be made so that every player can hear, because
after the cards have been delivered by the dealer no one has the right
to be informed how many cards any player drew. When the dealer comes to
his own hand, he must distinctly announce the number of cards he takes.
He must also inform any player asking him how many cards he took,
provided the question is put before the player asking it has made a
bet, and it is put by a player who has made good his ante to draw cards.
In dealing the cards for the draw, the pack is not cut again, the cards
being dealt from the top, beginning where the deal before the draw left
off. As each player asks for his cards he must discard those he wants
replaced, and he must receive the entire number he asks for before the
next player is helped. In some places it is the custom for all those
who have made good the ante to discard before any cards are given out.
This is not good poker, as it prevents the dealer from seeing that the
number discarded is equal to the number asked for. Should any card
be found faced in the pack, it must be placed on the table among the
discards. Should any card be exposed by the dealer in giving out the
cards, or be blown over by the wind before the player has touched it,
such card must not be taken by the player under any circumstances, but
must be placed with the discards on the table. A player whose card is
exposed in this manner does not receive a card to take its place until
all the other players have been helped. [The object of this rule is to
prevent a dealer from altering the run of the cards in the draw.]
Should a player ask for an incorrect number of cards and they be given
him, he must take them if the next player has been helped. If too many,
he must discard before seeing them. If too few, he must play them. If
he has taken them up and has too many, his hand is foul, and shuts him
out of that pool. If the dealer gives himself more cards than he needs
he is compelled to take them. For instance: He draws three cards to a
pair; but on taking up his hand he finds he had triplets, and really
wanted only two cards. He cannot change his draw, and must take the
three cards he has dealt off. There is a penalty for not following
the strict rule of the game, which is for each player, including the
dealer, to discard before he draws.
Should the dealer give any player more cards than he asked for, and the
player discover the error before taking them up or looking at any of
them, the dealer must withdraw the surplus card, and place it on the
top of the pack. Should the dealer give a player fewer cards than he
asks for, he must supply the deficiency when his attention is called to
it, without waiting to supply the other players. If a player has more
or less than five cards after the draw, his hand is foul, and he must
abandon it, together with all he may have already staked in the pool.
The dealer may be asked how many cards he drew; but he is not allowed
to say how many cards he gave to any other player. Each player must
watch the draw for himself.
The last card of the pack must not be dealt. When only two cards
remain, the discards and abandoned hands must be gathered, shuffled,
and presented to the pone to be cut, and the deal then completed.
_=BETTING UP THE HANDS.=_ All those who made good the ante having
been supplied with cards, the next player who holds cards on the left
of the age must make the first bet. Should the age have declined to
make good his ante, or have passed out before the draw, that does not
transfer the privilege of having the last say to any other player;
because the peculiar privilege of the age,--having the last say,--is
given in consideration of the blind, which he is _compelled_ to pay,
and no other player can have that privilege, because no other player
is obliged to play. Even if a player has straddled the blind, he must
still make the first bet after the draw, because he straddled of
his own free will, and knew at the time that the only advantage the
straddle would give him was the last say as to whether or not he would
make good his ante and draw cards.
If the player next to the age has passed out before the draw, the next
player to the left who still holds cards must make the first bet. The
player whose turn it is to bet must either do so, or throw his hand
face downward in front of the player whose turn it will be to deal
next. If he bets, he can put up any amount from one white counter to
the limit, two blues. It then becomes the turn of the player next on
his left who still holds cards to abdicate, better, or call. If he
calls, he does so by placing in the pool an amount equal to that staked
by the last player, and it then becomes the turn of the next player
on the left to say what he will do. But if he goes better, he adds to
the amount staked by the player on his right any further sum he sees
fit, within the limit of two blues. Each player in turn has the same
privilege, the age having the last say.
Suppose five play, and that A has the age. B has straddled, and all
but the dealer have made good the ante and drawn cards. There are
sixteen white counters in the pool, B’s straddle having made the ante
four instead of two. Suppose B bets a red counter, and C then throws
down his hand. D _=sees=_ B, by putting up a red counter; and he then
_=raises=_ him, by putting up two blues, increasing his bet as much as
the limit will allow him. The age must now abandon his hand or put up
one red and two blues to call D, without knowing what B proposes to
do. Let us suppose he sees D, and raises another two blues. B must now
retire, or put up four blues to call A, without knowing what D will
do. He can raise the bet another two blues, or one blue, or a red, or
a white even, if he is so minded. If he declines to raise, he cannot
prevent D from so doing, because D still has the privilege of replying
to A’s raise, and as long as a player has any _=say=_ about anything,
whether it is to abdicate, better, or call, he can do any one of the
three. It is only when there is no bet made, or when his own bet is
either not called or not raised, that a player has nothing to say. Let
us suppose B puts up the four blues to call A. It is now D’s turn. If
he puts up two blues, each will have an equal amount in the pool, and
as no one will have anything more to say, the betting must stop, and
the hands must be shown. But if D raises A again, by putting up four
blues instead of two, he gives A another say, and perhaps A will raise
D in turn. Although B may have had quite enough of this, he must either
put up four more blues, the two raised by D and the further raise by
A, or he must abandon his hand. If B throws down his cards he loses
all claim to what he has already staked in the pool, four blues and a
red, besides his straddle and ante. Let us suppose he drops out, and
that D just calls A, by putting up two blues only, making the amount he
has in the pool exactly equal to A’s, eight blues and a red, besides
the antes. This prevents A from going any further, because it is not
his turn to say anything. He is not asked to meet any one’s raise, nor
to make any bet himself, but simply to show his hand, in order to see
whether or not it is better than D’s.
_=SHOWING HANDS.=_ It is the general usage that the hand _=called=_
must be shown first. In this case A’s hand is called, for D was the
one who called a halt on A in the betting, and stopped him from going
any further. The strict laws of the game require that both hands must
be shown, and if there are more than two in the final call, all must
be shown to the table. The excuse generally made for not showing the
losing hand is that the man with the worse hand paid to see the better
hand; but it must not be forgotten that the man with the better hand
has paid exactly the same amount, and is equally entitled to see the
worse hand. There is an excellent rule in some clubs that a player
refusing to show his hand in a call shall refund the amount of the
antes to all the other players, or pay all the antes in the next jack
pot. The rule of showing both hands is a safeguard against collusion
between two players, one of whom might have a fairly good hand, and the
other nothing; but by mutually raising each other back and forth they
could force any other player out of the pool. The good hand could then
be called and shown, the confederate simply saying, “That is good,” and
throwing down his hand. Professionals call this system of cheating,
“raising out.”
When the hands are called and shown, the best poker hand wins, their
rank being determined by the table of values already given. In the
example just given suppose that A, on being called by D, had shown
three fours, and that D had three deuces. A would take the entire
pool, including all the antes, and the four blues and one red staked
by B after the draw. It might be that B would now discover that he had
_=laid down=_ the best hand, having held three sixes. This discovery
would be of no benefit to him, for he abandoned his hand when he
declined to meet the raises of A and D.
If the hands are exactly a tie, the pool must be divided among those
who are in at the call. For instance: Two players show aces up, and
each finds his opponent’s second pair to be eights. The odd card must
decide the pool; and if that card is also a tie the pool must be
divided.
If no bet is made after the draw, each player in turn throwing down his
cards, the antes are won by the last player who holds his hand. This is
usually the age, because he has the last say. If the age has not made
good his ante, it will be the dealer, and so on to the right. There is
no necessity for the fortunate player to show his hand; the mere fact
that he is the only one holding any cards is prima facie evidence that
his hand is the best. On the same principle, the player who has made
a bet or raise which no other player will see, wins the pool without
showing his hand, as he must be the only one with cards in his hand;
for when a player refuses to see a bet he must abandon his hand, and
with it all pretensions to the pool. If he wishes to call, but has not
money enough, he must borrow it. He cannot demand a show of hands for
what counters he has, except in table stakes.
During the betting, players are at liberty to make any remarks they
see fit, and to tell as many cheerful lies about their hands as they
please. A player may even miscall his hand when he shows it; the cards
speak for themselves, just as the counters do, and what a player says
does not affect either in the slightest. If a player says: “I raise you
two blues,” the statement amounts to nothing until the blues have been
placed in the pool, and the owner’s hand removed from them. There is no
penalty if a player, during the betting, tells his adversaries exactly
what he holds; nor is he likely to lose anything by it, for no one will
believe him.
_=JACK POTS.=_ The addition of jack pots has probably done more to
injure Poker than the trump signal has injured Whist. In the early
days, when poker parties were small, four players being a common
number, it was frequently the case that no one had a pair strong enough
to draw to, and such a deal was regarded as simply a waste of time.
To remedy this, it was proposed that whenever no player came in, each
should be obliged to ante an equal amount for the next deal, and just
to demonstrate that there were some good hands left in the pack no one
was allowed to draw cards until some one had _=Jacks or better=_ to
draw to.
The result of this practice was to make jack pots larger than the other
pools, because every one was compelled to ante, and this seems to have
prompted those who were always wanting to increase the stakes to devise
excuses for increasing the number of jack pots. This has been carried
so far that the whole system has become a nuisance, and has destroyed
one of the finest points in the game of Poker,--the liberty of personal
judgment as to every counter put into the pool, except the blind. The
following excuses for making jack pots are now in common use:
_=After a Misdeal=_ some parties make it a jack; but the practice
should be condemned, because it puts it in the power of any individual
player to make it a jack when he deals.
_=The Buck=_ is some article, such as a penknife, which is placed in
the pool at the beginning of the game, and is taken down with the rest
of the pool by whichever player wins it. When it comes to his deal, it
is a jack pot, and the buck is placed in the pool with the dealer’s
ante, to be won, taken down, and make another jack in the same way.
The usual custom is to fix the amount of the ante in jack pots, a red,
or five whites, being the common stake. In some places it is at the
option of the holder of the buck to make the ante any amount he pleases
within the betting limit. Whichever system is adopted, every player at
the table must deposit a like amount in the pool. Players are sometimes
permitted to _=pass a jack=_; that is, not to ante nor to take any part
in the game until the jack is decided. If this is to be allowed, it
should be so understood at the beginning of the game.
_=The High Hand=_ jack pot is played whenever a hand of an agreed
value, such as a flush or a full, is shown to the board; that is,
called. In some places four of a kind calls for _=a round of jacks=_,
every player in turn making it a jack on his deal.
_=Only Two In.=_ It is a common custom in large parties, say six or
seven players, to make it a jack when no one but the dealer will ante.
Instead of allowing the blind to make his ante good, and draw cards
against the dealer, each player contributes two white counters, the
age adding one to his blind, and the cards are redealt for a jack pot.
Another variety of this custom is when the blind is opposed by only one
ante, to allow the age to make this player take down his two counters,
and to pay two counters for him, to make it a jack. For instance: Five
play, and A has the age. B and C pass, and D antes two counters. The
dealer, E, says: “I pass for a jack.” A then puts up three counters,
one of which is added to his blind, the other two paying D’s ante in
the ensuing jack. D takes down his two counters, and the cards are
redealt. This cannot be done if more than one player has anted, nor if
the ante has been raised or the blind straddled. In the example just
given, had D raised the ante to five counters and E passed, the age
would have had to put up four more white counters and draw cards, or
allow D to win his blind.
_=Progressive Jacks.=_ In some localities it is the custom to make the
pair necessary to open a jack pot progress in value; Jacks or better to
open the first round; Queens the next; then Kings; then Aces; and then
back to Kings, Queens, and Jacks again. This is very confusing, and is
not popular.
_=Fattening Jacks.=_ When the original ante is two counters only,
and no one holds Jacks or better on the first deal, each player must
contribute another white counter to “fatten,” and the cards are
dealt again. This continues until the pot is opened; that is, until
some player holds a hand as good or better than a pair of Jacks. The
fattening process is followed when the dealer can make the original
ante what he pleases; but if the ante for jacks is a fixed sum, such as
a red counter, it is not usual to fatten the pot at all. This saves all
disputes as to _=who is shy=_, one of the greatest nuisances in Poker.
_=Opening Jacks.=_ As there is no age or straddle in any form of jack
pot, the player to the left of the dealer has the first say, and must
examine his hand to see if he has Jacks or better; that is to say,
either an actual pair of Jacks, or some hand that would beat a pair
of Jacks if called upon to do so, such as two pairs, a straight,
or triplets. In some localities it is allowed to open jacks with a
_=bobtail=_; that is, four cards of a flush or straight. If the player
on the dealer’s left has not openers, or does not care to open the pot
if he has, he says: “I pass;” but he does not abandon his hand. The
next player on his left must then declare. In some places players are
allowed to throw down their cards when they pass; but in first-class
games a penalty of five white counters must be paid into the pool by
any player abandoning his hand before the second round of declarations,
as it gives an undue advantage to players with medium hands to know
that they have only a limited number of possible opponents. For
instance: If six play, and the first three not only pass, but throw
down and abandon their cards, a player with a pair of Jacks will know
that he has only two possible adversaries to draw against him, which
will so increase his chances that it may materially alter his betting.
If no one acknowledges to holding Jacks or better, the pot is fattened,
and the cards are reshuffled and dealt. The best practice is for the
same dealer to deal again until some one gets Jacks or better. This is
called _=dealing off the jack=_. If any player has forfeited his right
in one deal, such as by having a foul hand, that does not prevent him
coming into the pot again on the next deal with rights equal to the
other players.
If any player holds Jacks or better, he can open the pot, or “the
jack,” for any amount he pleases within the betting limit. The
expression “open” is used because after one player has declared that he
holds Jacks or better, all restrictions are removed, and the pool is
then open to any player to come in and play for it, regardless of what
he may hold. Each player in turn, beginning on the left of the opener,
must declare whether or not he will _=stay=_. If he stays, he must put
up an amount equal to that bet by the opener, and has the privilege
of raising him if he sees fit. If he passes, he throws his cards face
downward on the table in front of the player whose turn it will be to
deal next. Should the opener be raised, and not care to see that raise,
he must show his hand to the table before abandoning it, in order to
demonstrate that he had openers. Some players show only the cards
necessary to open, but the strict rules require the whole hand to be
shown before the draw. When once the jack is opened, the betting before
the draw proceeds exactly as in the ordinary pool. Any player on the
right of the opener, who passed on the first round, may come in after
the pot is opened. For instance: E deals. A and B pass, but hold their
hands. C opens, and D throws down his hand. E sees the opener’s bet,
and it then becomes the turn of A and B, who have passed once, to say
whether or not they will play, now that the pot is opened.
When all those who have declared to stay have deposited an equal amount
in the pool, they draw cards to improve their hands, just as in the
ordinary pool, the player on the dealer’s left being helped first. All
those who draw cards, except the opener, throw their discards into the
centre of the table as usual; but the opener is obliged always to place
his discard under the chips in the pool. This is in order that he may
be able to show what he held originally, in case he should conclude to
_=split his openers=_ in order to try for a better hand. For instance:
He has opened with a pair of Jacks, but has four of one suit in his
hand. Four other players have stayed, perhaps the bet has been raised,
and he knows that his Jacks will probably be worthless, even if he
gets a third. So he breaks the pair, and draws for a flush. As the
opener always places his discard under the chips in the pool, it is not
necessary for him to betray his game by telling the whole table that he
is drawing to a bobtail.