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Having a language all their own, poker players often confuse those who are listening. When a novice to the game steps into a room full of people playing poker, what they hear may confuse them. This feeling is caused by the seasoned players having a language that almost makes no sense at all.

The players? speech needs to be analyzed from the beginning to the end. All players of all variations of poker ante at the beginning of the game. The ante is the first amount the players bet before the cards are dealt; usually it is a very small amount.

In some forms of poker, a small blind and a big blind are used. These are the forced bets for the two people who are sitting to the left of the dealer. All other antes are to be equal to the big blind and are voluntary if the player decides his hand is good enough to win.

Some of the playing cards are used by all the players in community types of poker, which has those shared cards in the middle of the table. To make a winning hand, the player uses these cards plus their two hole cards, the two that are dealt face down. The winning hand is a group of five cards that show any of the nine predetermined winning ranks, like two pairs or a flush.

In community types of poker, the cards in the middle of the table are called the window. The first three in the window are called the flop. The next card to be dealt is the turn and the last card is the river.

The players must either fold or bet once the two hole cards are dealt. Someone who folded is a person who has decided that they will wait for the next round to play. It is most likely that they felt the hole cards would not make a good hand.

The small blind is bet by the player to the left of the dealer. Going clockwise, the dealer button is passed to each player in turn. This button shows whose turn it is to bet first.

After the players have anted, the dealer then turns the flop out face up. Depending upon what is in the hole and the flop, the players then bet again. The person who has that round’s dealer button bets first if they feel like those five cards will give them the win.

The remaining players must call, raise or fold. When a player calls, he is simply betting the same amount as the original bettor just to stay in the game. When a player raises a bet, he is adding more to the original bettor?s amount.

The last of the betting occurs when the flop, turn and river are in the window. A showdown is when the remaining players show what cards they have. When more than one player is left at the end of the round the one with the highest-ranking hand is the winner.

There are nine ranks in poker hands. These rankings are a high card, a pair, two pair, three of a kind, a flush, a straight, a full house, four of a kind, and a straight flush. The pot goes to the player with the highest-ranking hand and the game starts again.