Players,
Dealers, and Decks
Online or off, most casino poker
games consist of eight to ten players plus a dealer (although
Internet poker also offers lots of designated shorthanded
games). The dealer - whether human or programming function
- wagers no money and gets no hand to play, but is simply
there to run the games, deal the cards, and push pots to
winning players. Additionally, the dealer must randomly
shuffle the cards so the deal will be fair.
While human casino dealers are
professionals who take pride in their work, they're no match
for computers in some respects. In Internet poker, the games
software executes a far more random shuffle and far more
rapid deal than even the very finest house dealers can achieve.
For Internet poker
- as for casino poker in general - the deck is a standard
52-card deck. games involving a joker are rare not only
in Internet cash games, but also in the complimentary play-money
games found at leading online poker sites. By the same token,
wild cards are seldom used. If you've been playing mostly
in home poker games, this may be a big adjustment for you.
