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Before any
action can take place, participating players must make their
initial bets. To begin the betting, each player must place at
least the minimum bet in the area marked ante. The minimum and
maximum bets allowable will usually be posted on a small placard
in the corner of the table.
In the typical casino, $5 will be the minimum bet allowed as
ante. Players may also choose to make the Progressive Bet by
dropping $1 into the drop slot. For now, no money can be wagered
in the area marked "bet". Once all players are ready
to go and have placed their bets in the area marked ante, the
dealer is ready to get the action going. The dealer's first
action is to push a button that will automatically collect the
$1 progressive bets that were made. These bets will drop out
of sight into the bowels of the table and a red light will go
on in front of each player who made the bet to indicate that
that bet was made. The ante bets will still remain as before.
The dealer is now ready to distribute the cards. Five cards
will be dealt face down to each participating player. The dealer
will also deal himself five cards, four face down and one face
up to be viewed by all players. This face up card is known as
the upcard. Players now have a decision to make about their
hand. If they feel it is good enough to beat the dealer or qualify
for a bonus payout, they can call, and do so by placing an additional
wager in the box marked bet. This wager must be double the ante
bet. Thus, if $5 was bet as an ante, then $10 would be placed
in the bet area. Similarly, if $25 was the ante, then $50 would
be the additional wager placed in the bet area. In the first
case, the player would have total ante and call bets of $15,
and in the second case, adding $25 to $50, $75 would be the
total.
To indicate that the player wishes to make this additional bet,
the player places his cards face down on the table. Players
that do not wish to place this additional bet must fold, and
do so by returning their cards to the dealer. While their ante
bet is forfeited and collected by the house, no additional money
is at risk for the hand. Players that have folded no longer
participate in the hand. Each player in turn will make the decision
to play on by placing the additional double bet in the "call"
box, or to fold and forfeit their ante bet. This is the only
playing decision players will make once the cards are dealt.
Play will proceed clockwise, beginning with the player at the
dealer's left (the players right side) and continuing on to
the third base position, the player positioned at the dealer's
far right.
Once all players have made their decisions, the dealer will
turn over his remaining four down cards to reveal his final
five card hand. This hand will determine whether players have
won or lost on their bets. The dealer first sees if he has a
qualifying hand, the minimum hand required by the rules of the
game to determine if bonuses and extra payouts will occur to
players with stronger hands. |
