How To Deal Poker Cards

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Hold the cards by the edge and using the thumb seperate about half the cards. Align the upper pack of cards against the lower pack. Weave the cards together by the edges. Push the cards together. How to deal a No-limit Texas Hold'em poker tournament. How to host and run a no-limit Texas Hold'em poker tournament in your home. Dealer Training is the online poker dealer school, which teaches you how to deal poker like a professional poker dealer. It was created out of necessity. We needed trained dealers for our pub poker league. In this game, play is started with the dealer burning a card from the deck and then dealing three.

If you’ve never dealt in a home poker game before, there are certain rules of etiquette that you should know about beforehand.

The first thing is that, unless you’re using plastic cards (like the expensive Kem cards I recommend buying), you should break out a new deck of cards to deal with. If you’re hosting, that’s up to you. If you’re not, you’re probably not going to deal first.

But either way, the first thing you do with that deck of cards is shuffle it. You need to shuffle it seven times to get it fully randomized.

I like to recommend having two decks of cards at a time. That way, you don’t have to pause between hands to wait for someone to shuffle the cards.

There’s always a shuffled deck ready. Use one red deck and one blue deck so the cards never get mixed up.

Once you’ve shuffled that first deck of cards, you deal each player a card.

Just one at a time until the dealer is chosen.

This is to determine who gets to be the dealer first.

You get to decide what determines the dealer – you might decide that the first player to get an ace is the dealer. It could be the jack or any other card you like. Just make sure you announce it as you’re dealing the cards one by one, face-up.

Dealing continues from here as the game starts. The rest of this post will go into detail on how to be the dealer in your home poker game.

Dealer’s Choice

It used to be common to have dealer’s choice as the presiding rule at a home poker game. This just means that the dealer gets to decide which game is going to be played.

It’s more common now to host a Texas holdem game or an Omaha game, but I still like to host a home game with dealer’s choice.

If you’re the dealer, don’t spend a lot of time agonizing over choosing the game you think will give you an edge over the other players. Just announce something basic and get on with it. The worst thing you can do at a home poker game is to slow down the game for any reason.

You’re in Charge

In most dealer’s choice games, the dealer’s in charge. In fact, for the most part, the dealer’s in charge of most games and makes most of the judgment calls about various things. Recently, I was dealing a game, and someone else decided to step in to tell another player something.

I corrected him plenty quick, by the way.

“I got this,” I told him.

You do need to pay attention to how many players are at the table before announcing the game.

If you have eight players at the table, you can’t play 7-card stud. You don’t have enough cards for that. You’d need 56 cards, and you only have 52.

If you have any special rules, you need to announce and explain those, too. You might have been playing baseball (a variant of 7-card stud) since you were ten years old, but you can’t assume the other players know how to play that game.

It’s your job to explain it if they don’t.

That’s one of the reasons I suggest sticking with the basic games. Poker’s plenty of fun without coming up with a dozen variant rules for everyone to keep up with.

When you deal a poker game, you should always offer to let the player to your right (or your left, under some house rules) the opportunity to cut the cards. He should cut the deck toward you, although he can choose not to cut the deck if he wants to.

In the event of a misdeal, the dealer gets to make the judgment call, but you can expect input from the players. A lot of home poker games have specific rules in place for misdeals, too.

Dealing With Style

I suggest keeping it simple and just doing the basics – deal the cards one at a time to each player. Don’t turn them face-up unless they’re supposed to be face-up. Take your time to avoid a misdeal.

The cards go around the table to your left, like the hands of a clock. This is true for almost everything else at the poker table besides the cut.

Some poker dealers love to spout off patter as they deal, and they have nicknames for all the face-up cards. Other dealers just blandly announce the cards as they’re dealt – ace of spades, queen of hearts, etc. Still, other dealers just keep their mouths shut.

It’s also customary to announce possible hands when you see face-up cards. “Possible flush” might be something you’d announce when dealing.

They’re also supposed to make sure that the players betting put their money in the pot, and they administer side pots when they come up. You also need to make sure that the discards get handled correctly. Remember, they go in the muck.

You can even learn sleight-of-hand tricks to deal with even more style. I know a card player who only uses one hand to deal. He uses the same hand he’s holding the deck with to distribute the cards.

That takes some practice.

The Final Deal

Eventually, someone – usually the host – will announce that you’re only going to play a certain number of more hands before calling it a night.

If you’re dealing the last hand, you should think about dealing a game that’s cool enough to make for a memorable final hand.

Often, this involves coming up with a game where you can get a lot of money into action. You might announce that the ante for the final hand is double, and bet sizes are double, too.

Or you might announce a game that just builds large pots by its very nature.

The Cards Talk

“Cards speak” is the standard rule in any home poker game. This just means that the cards are what determines who has the best hand, NOT what the player announces.

If a player has a straight flush, but he just announces a straight, his straight flush still plays.

It’s your job as the dealer to recognize the hands and point out who the actual winner is if someone is confused about the strength of his hand.

Some Hosting Advice

Being the host isn’t the same thing as being the dealer, but here are some tips for the host nonetheless:

You’re responsible for inviting enough people to the game

You’re looking for five to seven players usually, and you should tell them in advance when the game starts, where you’re playing, and what the stakes are.

You should have some kinds of refreshments available

Traditionally, at my home game, I serve frozen pizza and little smokies sausages in barbecue sauce. I usually have some cheese cubes and crackers available, too. I’ve played in other games where beer was served and hot sandwiches in a crockpot, like meatballs or barbecue.

Don’t be shy about asking people to chip in on the snacks

I usually tell people to buy in for at least $50 and bring an extra $5 to apply toward snacks. With seven players on hand, that’s $35 to budget for snacks. Heck, with that kind of money, you can even buy soda pop.

Another option is potluck

There’s no shame in asking people to bring a dish to share, either.

When Should Your Game Be?

The best night to host a home poker game is Thursday night. Here’s why:

On Monday, you’re recovering from both the first day of the workweek AND from the weekend. So are the other players.

If you play on Tuesday, you don’t have anything to look forward to later in the week.

Wednesday are reserved for church for some poker players – believe it or not.

Thursday is the best day. It’s late enough in the week for people to be ready to do something fun. Also, most people get paid on Friday. So, even if they lose money, they’ll get more money the next day.

Friday is okay, but a lot of people go out on dates on Friday night. This limits the number of players who will show up.

You should host your game at a regular time and a place every week if you want it to become successful.

Conclusion

Dealing and hosting a home poker game is more involved than some people think. I’ve covered what I think are the most important basics above.

But I also know that a lot of people do it differently.

What changes would you make to this guide to dealing a home poker game based on how you do it in your home game?

Let me know in the comments.

A poker dealer

A poker dealer distributes cards to players and manages the action at a poker table.

Professional dealers[edit]

Any casino with a poker room must hire a staff of dealers. Casinos generally pay dealers minimum wage. However, a dealer's primary source of income is not salary, but tips from players. Tip income may be substantial for dealers who can deal hands quickly and efficiently. (In some countries e.g., in Sweden, where all the casinos are owned by the state, Dealers and other casino personnel may not accept tips from players. This rule is complied with strictly.)

To become employable by a casino, applicants without prior experience are typically required to complete a 4-6 week training program at a dealing school. Dealing in a casino may require working late hours and remaining seated for long periods of time. Dealers also commonly work holidays, since these are especially busy days for casinos. Having to deal with difficult individuals may be another drawback to dealing at a casino—some players are abusive to dealers.

Major poker tournaments also hire dealers. For a given tournament stop, the tournament coordinator will hire dealers on contract for the duration of the tournament, which may be a few days to a few weeks. Room and board may or may not be provided by the tournament management; the dealer is typically responsible for his own travel expenses.

Mechanics of dealing[edit]

Dealers must be proficient in shuffling the deck, distributing the cards to the players, and, if required by the game being dealt, turning up the community cards in the center of the table. There are two methods of distributing the cards, 'American'-style and 'European'-style.

Shuffling[edit]

To shuffle the cards, the dealer follows a sequence defined by the casino. First all cards are spread out on the table and pushed around randomly. This is called 'scrambling' or 'washing' the cards. Then the cards are collected and squared into a deck. At this point a typical shuffling sequence might be: riffle, riffle, box, riffle. Professional dealers always keep both halves of the deck very low to the table while shuffling. Some casinos have automatic shufflers built into the table that shuffle a different deck of cards while the previous hand is being played, which speeds up the game.

Finally, a cut card is placed on the table and the deck is cut onto the card. The cut card is held on the bottom of the deck for the entire hand, to keep the bottom card from being exposed.

American-style dealing[edit]

In American-style dealing, the deck is held in one hand, and the dealer uses the thumb of their deck hand to slide the top card of the deck toward their pitching hand. The pitching hand clasps the card between the thumb and index finger while at the same time the mid-point of the card touches the face (nail) of the middle finger. It is the extension of the middle finger that 'pitches' the card off the top of the deck and a 'whoosh' should be heard as each card exits the top of the deck.

The ability to pitch cards accurately is critical, since the cards must be delivered in a way that players at the table can not see the undersides of the cards.

European-style dealing[edit]

European-style dealers touch only the top of each card being dealt. The card is pushed off the top of the deck to the table surface in front of the dealer. The dealer then propels the card toward the recipient, usually imparting some spin to the card to encourage sliding.

Burning and turning[edit]

Before dealing a community card, the top card off the deck is burned, or discarded. The rationale for burning is that the top card on the deck is visible to players during the previous betting round, so that a cheat might be able to spot a mark on the top card and therefore gain an advantage on his opponents.

When burning, the deck must be held low and the burn card kept level with the table surface. Casinos watch carefully to make sure a dealer does not 'flash', or inadvertently expose, the burn cards to players at the table.

In flop games, the three community cards comprising the flop are turned up simultaneously, never one at a time.

Learn How To Deal Poker

Responsibilities during a hand[edit]

Dealers control the action during a hand. This may include prodding players to act, verbally announcing actions of players to the rest of the table, and correcting players who act out of turn.

Dealers also must manage the pot. The dealer must verify the amount of bets and raises by players, collect folded hands, maintain side pots, and read players' hands at showdown to identify the winner or winners. In games with a rake, the dealer also must keep track of the amount of money in the pot and remove the appropriate amount for the house.

At times the dealer needs to communicate with the floor, or other casino staff. Some casinos equip the dealers with a headset or walkie-talkie for this purpose, while in other casinos the dealer must shout over the ambient noise. The following table shows some common calls a dealer may make, and their meanings:

Call	Meaning
'Floor' or 'Decision'	Requests the floor manager to come to resolve a dispute.
'Seat open'	Announces that a player has left the game and a seat is now available.
'Player in'	Notifies the floor or brush that a vacant seat has been filled.
'Players checks'	Requests a chip runner to retrieve chips for a player.
'Fill'	Requests a chip runner to bring chips to fill the dealer tray. This tray must be kept full of low denomination chips in a high limit game, so that change may be made in the pot so that the rake may be taken out.
'Set up'	Requests replacement decks be brought to the table.
'Pick up'	For cash games, used when an absent player's chips should be removed from the table to free the seat. Also, for single-table satellites, used to request the staff to come collect the cash entry fees from the table.
'Playover'	Alerts the floor that a new player will be playing in a seat taken by an absent player, until the absent player returns. Usually a 'playover box' or some other object is used to separate the seated player's money and chips from those of the person playing over.
'Winner'	Used in single-table satellites to announce that the game has completed and the prize is to be paid.
'Brush'	Calls the floor to deal with a game participation problem, for example if a game must be broken due to insufficient players.
'Service' or 'Cocktails'	Alerts the floor that a player wants a beverage and/or food.

Online dealing[edit]

Online poker sites use Random number generation (RNGs) when dealing cards. A successful RNG distributes cards in an unpredictable and random way.

How To Deal Out Poker Cards

Footnotes[edit]

References[edit]

How To Deal Texas Holdem

Shulman, Barry (2001-06-22). 'Dealer Compensation'. Card Player Magazine.
Shulman, Barry (2002-03-29). 'Dealer Tipping and Economics'. Card Player Magazine.