The Dealer, banker & House Rules

Dealer’s Choice or One Game: At the outset of a poker session, players should decide whether to play several poker games or one game throughout the night. If you play various games, it is the “dealer’s choices” as to what game will be played.
If playing dealer’s choice, the dealer decides what game will be played and also if there will be any wild cards.
The dealer should call out the action as it happens. When dealing a stud game, it is customary to call out what has been dealt, what the potential hands are, and who starts the betting.
The dealer should keep the game moving. If a player is not paying attention, or is moving too slowly, the dealer can speak up and get the action going again. When it is your turn to deal, don’t dawdle-decide your game and deal.
Think of the dealer as the table’s benevolent dictator. It is the dealer’s role to know what is going on at all times at the table. The dealer is in charge and can exercise authority by pointing out bad poker etiquette. He or she should feel free to keep players “in line”.
It is in the dealer’s (and the game’s) best interest to shuffle and to deal carefully. When dealing never expose the bottom cards or the cards being dealt. A glimpse at one card can affect the way everyone is playing. Learn how to shuffle discretely. Good shufflers never let the cards leave the table.

Banker : The group needs to choose a player to be the banker. This person is responsible for collecting money and exchanging it for chips. At the end of the night, or when a player cashes out, the banker collects the chips and doles back whatever each player has earned.
House Rules: If you are the host and you have particularly strong feeling about certain aspects of poker, then you can declare House Rules for playing poker games. For instance, House Rules might dictate whether Aces are only high for all games or if check-raising is allowed. In addition, House Rules might also be used to establish what rules the dealer needs to address before each hand. The declaration of these guidelines will prevent any disputes over the pot, or any confusion.
Final Arbiter: If you are starting out, it’s good to keep a book of rules around to settle any disputes-better yet, keep these handy cards around!

Betting: THE LANGUAGE OF POKER

As many poker players will tell you, poker is not gambling it’s a game in which you study the probabilities and make reasonable assumptions based on what’s in your hand and on your opponent’s cards and behavior. Nevertheless, betting is an integral aspect of poker. Betting is the language through which players convey to the table the strength of their hand. Of course, it is also used to deceive others players, a technique known as Bluffing. Which each game has its own nuances, there are several aspects common to all games. Before sitting down to play poker, make sure you have a firm knowledge of the basics of betting.

Ante: This is the agreed-upon amount that all players put into the pot before the hand is dealt. This insures that everyone has at least some stake in winning the hand.
After the cards have been dealt, the opening player has two options: betting or checking. If he feels confident about his hand, he can start the betting by putting money into the pot. If the opening player is not so confident about his card, he can “check” the bet. Checking means the player is still in, but he is passing the opening bet to the player to his left.
Once all the other players have made their move, the betting comes back around, and any player who has checked must either “call” or fold (you cannot check twice). (Note: In Omaha poker and Holdem poker, a player cannot check in the first round of betting.)
After a player has made a bet, all other players must bet the same amount (also known as “seeing” or “calling”), raise, or fold (quit the hand). If a player raises the bet, he must announce how much he is raising the bet. To stay in, all players must see his raise or fold.

HERE’S HOW A ROUND OF BETTING MIGHT SOUND (IT NEVER HURTS TO KNOW THE LINGO):

PLAYER 1: Check.
PLAYER 2: A dollar.
PLAYER 3: I see your dollar.
PLAYER 4: Too rich for my blood, I fold.
PLAYER 5: I see you $1 and raise you $1.
PLAYER 1: [He must now put in $2 to say in the game. ] I’m in.
PLAYER 2: [He must now put in $1 to stay in.] I fold
PLAYER 3: I’m in.