Poker is a card game that requires a great deal of luck and skill. When players place money at risk, however, the game takes on a whole new level of strategy. Using Poker in your story can add tension and conflict for your protagonists, but it is important to approach this scene with the same level of care that you would any other major scene in your novel.
At the start of a game, each player buys in with a certain amount of chips. This number can vary from game to game. The chips are color coded with white being worth one chip, red being worth five, and blue being worth ten. Players must keep track of their own chips as well as those of the other players on the table.
Once all the players have purchased their chips, each is dealt two cards face down and one card face up. The player with the lowest hand starts the betting and play moves clockwise around the table. Players may call, raise, or fold. The first to raise must increase the size of his or her bet by at least the amount of the previous bet.
During the betting phase, players can use the cards in their hands to form the best 5-card hand possible. During this process, a player may also draw replacement cards from the deck to make changes to his or her hand. Some games allow a player to raise his or her bet an unlimited number of times, but this isn’t common.
After the betting is completed, the winner of the round is determined by whoever has the highest 5-card hand. This person wins the pot, or all of the money that was placed in bets during the round. Occasionally, there is a tie for the best hand, and in this case the money is shared among players with that hand.
In some variations of the game, players can also make blind bets. These bets take the place of an ante, or are made in addition to the ante. These bets are usually made by the player to the left of the dealer.
Poker is also a game of tells, which are the unconscious habits that a player uses to reveal information about his or her hand. These tells can include eye contact, facial expressions, and body language. Almost every poker player has a tell, and understanding the other players at the table is crucial to winning the game.
A good poker scene is long and drawn out. A character who repeatedly dips into the game for only a couple of hands will quickly become annoying to the reader. To prevent this, be sure to pad the scenes before and after key moments with other action, such as a bluff or a confrontation. This will show that the scene is not merely a vehicle for the poker game and will give readers a reason to stay with the book.
