A player may double their stake during a certain period of betting, or ante, if the rules allow it. After three or four raises, however, the stake becomes too big and the player may be forced out of the game for lack of funds. However, some historical house rules limit the amount of raises a player can make at this point in the game. Hence, it is wise to know the house rules and stick to them as much as possible.

When playing poker, players typically use poker chips, which can be different colors. Prior to the game, the dealer assigns the chip values to each chip. Then, players may exchange their cash for the correspondingly valued chips. The dealer then deals the cards to each player and shuffles the cards after each hand. For example, a “2” is a low pair, and a pair of aces is the lowest pair in a game.

The betting rounds are called rounds. During these betting rounds, each player must place a bet or raise a certain amount of chips. The winner of a hand is the one with the highest rank. The winning player takes the pot. Depending on the rules, the stakes of the game can be large or small. If the player is betting with a large amount, it is often wise to call a new raise. But in order to win the pot, players must make a minimum bet each round.