Your Betting Options: Check, Call, Raise

Let’s look at how a round of betting goes:

You’re the first to act in a game with antes. There are two things you can do: check (pass the bet) or you can bet. Let’s say you bet.

The next player (the one sitting on your left) can do three things: she can call or see your bet, which means she matches it exactly; she can raise the bet; or she can give up on her hand and fold or "muck" it.

This continues from player to player going around to the left. If someone raises a bet you made, when it comes back to you, you have the same options as everyone else: call, raise, or fold. The round of betting is over when everyone simply calls the last bet and all the players (who haven’t folded) have put in the same amount of money. A round of betting can also be “checked around” – meaning everyone checks and there’s no money put in the pot that round.