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Playing poker at the casino is fun, but nothing really beats the atmosphere of a good home game with your friends and people you have personal relationships with.
The biggest problem most home games have, however, is that the people dealing them are not real dealers, and they often make mistakes that slow the game down or directly impact the outcome of certain hands.
If you are looking to set up a home game or are already running one and would like to improve the quality, keep on reading and learn how to deal cards like a pro in your poker home game.
Before a home game can actually start, there are a number of things you can do to prepare for the game and make sure everything runs smoothly.
You will want to make sure your table, chairs, and other furniture are all set up and ready to go and that the playing chips are prepared for the intended game.
Once everything is in order, you need to think about playing cards. Ideally, you want to have at least two decks of cards on hand, and it would be best if the decks are still packed.
If your home game is played for completely insignificant stakes, using cards used in previous games can be fine, but as soon as the stakes become significant, you will want to use new cards each time.
The reason behind this, of course, is to ensure that players feel comfortable with the cards not being marked or tampered in any way when the game gets underway.
By always playing with brand-new decks of cards, you will ensure that the integrity of the game is not questioned the first time someone loses a big cooler.
Another big thing that some players may have a problem with is the way the cards are shuffled before a poker hand is dealt.
Since you want to make sure everyone knows the game is fair, you need to learn to shuffle the cards like the pros do.
Poker dealers in casinos are instructed to shuffle the cards multiple times before they deal out a hand in order to make sure every deal is completely random.
After collecting the cards from the previous hand, you should spread them across the table and give them a good shuffle, as the dealers do at major poker events.
Once you are done, collect all the cards back in your hand and use the riffle method three times, ensuring that the cards are shuffled even further for everyone to see.
In the end, cut the cards once to ensure that the top card of your previous shuffle is no longer the top card but rather somewhere in the middle of the deck.
By applying all these methods of shuffling cards, you will show everyone that the deals are completely random and that there is no chance they are being cheated in any way.
Once all the players are seated at the table, you want to start the home game the same way professional dealers do: assigning the dealer button to one player at the table.
While it doesn’t really matter who gets the button on the first hand, players will appreciate this part, and the one who gets the button will likely celebrate, although they haven’t really won anything.
To assign to button, shuffle the deck as you normally would and deal one card face-up in front of each player at the table.
The dealer button goes to the player who is dealt the highest card and moves one spot to the left after each hand.
If two or more players get the same high card, the player with the highest suit will get the button. The value of suits, from highest to lowest, is Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs.
Once the dealer button is in place, you can start the game. As the dealer, it will be your duty to announce the action throughout the game and ensure the players know when it’s their turn to act.
The first thing you need to announce is the blinds. For instance, if you are playing a $1/2 cash game, instruct the players to the left of the dealer that they need to post a small blind of $1 and a big blind of $2.
Once the blinds are posted, you will deal out the hole cards and go around the table, instructing the players that it’s their turn to act.
Make sure everyone knows what the previous bet or raise is to and that they know what options they have if there is some doubt.
As the dealer, it is not your duty to suggest how players should play their hands, but rather only to inform them what their options are and what the previous bet stands at.
You should announce each bet, raise, and all-in out loud and always make sure that the players know when one player has put their last chips into the pot.
Dealing the actual cards is not the hardest part of a dealer’s job, but it needs to be taken seriously.
Once you are done shuffling and all the obligatory bets are placed, you can start dealing cards, starting with the player in the small blind.
You will go around the table dealing one hole card to each player until you reach the dealer button. Then, you will go another circle until everyone has exactly two hole cards.
This concludes the first round of dealing, which is followed by the first betting round. At the end of the first betting round, you will burn one card and deal out the flop.
The burn card should be placed face-down next to where the flop will go. The three flop cards are dealt face-up in the middle of the table.
Another betting round ensues before the turn card is dealt. Once it is time to deal the turn, you will burn another card by placing it partially on top of the previous burn card and then placing the turn card next to the flop, face-up.
The third betting round comes next. After this, another burn card is placed on top of the other two, and the final community card, the river, is placed next to the turn card.
When you are done with the dealing, there should be exactly five community cards dealt across the middle of the table, while players still remaining in the hand should have a total of two hole cards each.
Another key part of a poker dealer’s job that you will be performing in a home game is related to the chips players use to make their bets.
As the dealer, you will be responsible for handling all the chips in the pot, and players should technically never touch any chips other than their own.
Once a player has made a bet, you will need to make sure they have put the corresponding amount of chips into the pot. Once a player makes a call, you will need to make sure of the same.
Furthermore, when players make bets and calls with oversized chips, your job will be to make sure they get the exact change before taking their chips.
You will return the change from the pot if possible, or from your chip tray if you have chips in it, or from another player’s stack whom you will ask to break the chip for you.
Remember that you should always make sure every player has their change before taking chips into the pot, as this ensures players are never shorted in any situation.
If a player makes a bet by sliding their chips in without announcing a bet size, you will have to count the chips out and announce the size of the bet out loud, as well as state if the player is all-in.
Handling chips and counting out bets will be a big part of your job as the dealer, so make sure you don’t switch off once you have dealt the cards, as there is so much more to dealing poker games.
Once all the cards have been dealt and all the bets have been made, the players will reach the showdown, the crowning moment of a poker hand.
At showdown, players are required to turn their hole cards up and the dealer’s job is to announce the winner based on the displayed cards.
At showdown, the player who made the last aggressive action (bet or raise) will be asked to turn their cards up first, although players can also turn their cards up out of turn if they so choose.
If there was no aggressive action on the river, the player in the small blind or the player closest to their left will be the first to show their cards by default.
If one player shows their cards, other players might decide to muck their cards without showing them, which is typically an accepted practice in home games whether they are played in a tournament or cash game format.
According to the rules of tournament poker, players should always turn up their cards at showdown in order to prevent collusion and soft play.
At showdown, your job as the dealer will be to make sure the right player gets the pot, and this means being focused to the maximum.
Players will often announce wrong hands or say things that might throw you off, but you should be focused on the cards only.
Look at the cards shown by the players and compare them with the board. Take the time you need and make sure you know which hand is best before pushing the pot to one player.
If more than one player has the same best hand, those players will split the pot. If two players have the same hand, you will split the pot into two. If three players are splitting, split the pot into three and give each player an even portion of the pot.
In a poker game, you can only win the number of chips you have from another player, but in multi-way pots, there can be action even after one player is all-in.
Imagine a scenario in a $1/2 cash game where one player goes all-in for his last remaining $75 and is called by a player who has $300 in his stack. Another player behind then decides to go all-in for $525, and the player with $300 announces a call.
In this situation, it is important to maintain composure and start from the beginning. The first player went all in for $75, and both players covered his wager. This means you need to take $75 from each player’s stack and add those chips to the existing main pot.
Once the main pot is settled, you can proceed to create a side pot for the other two players. The second player had a total of $300 but now has $225 remaining after paying for the original bet.
The third player will need to cover the $225 bet, and a total of $450 will be placed into a side pot on the other side of the table from the main pot.
If there are cards still left to be dealt, you will deal them out. Players will then turn over their cards, and you will figure out the winner of the main pot first, followed by the winner of the side pot.
In some situations, there can be two, three, or even four side pots that must be made, and you will need to make sure everyone gets the pot they have won and, most importantly, maintain order at the table by handling the situation smoothly.
We have covered the basics of dealing a poker home game in this article, but the truth is only experience will make you into a real dealer who can handle dealing poker for multiple hours.
The game of poker may seem simple enough on the surface, but many nuances go into it, and being in control of the action throughout a poker game can be exhausting.
Ease into dealing home games and make sure your friends know you are only getting started before you deal your first hand. Most importantly, remember to stay calm and collected in all cases and take the time you need to make the right decisions instead of fast ones.
If you have the feeling you need to sharpen up your game then Pokercode is a great place to start. Sign up for a free account and set your first steps towards becoming a better poker player.
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