In poker, the buck or dealer button is a marker used to indicate the player who is dealing or, in casino games with a house dealer, the player who acts last on that deal (who would be the dealer in a home game). The term button is also used for a variety of plastic discs, or lammers, used by casinos to mark the status of players.
When poker became a popular saloon game in the United States in the middle of the nineteenth century, the integrity of the players was unreliable and the honor codes that had regulated gambling for centuries became inadequate. Because the dealer has the greatest opportunity to cheat (by manipulating the specific cards that players receive, or by inspecting the dealt cards), the players would take turns in this role. To avoid arguments about whose turn it was to deal, the person who was next due to deal would be given a marker. This marker was moved clockwise around the table after each hand. A knife was commonly used as a marker, and the marker became generally known as a "buck", as an abbreviated reference to the buck's horn that formed the handle of many knives at that time.
When the dealer had finished dealing the cards he "passed the buck". According to Martin, the earliest use of the phrase in print is in the July 1865 edition of Weekly New Mexican : "They draw at the commissary, and at poker after they have passed the buck." The phrase then appears frequently in many sources so it probably originated at about this time. However, Mark Twain cited it as common slang in Virginia City when he was a reporter there in 1862. [1]
"Passing the buck" soon became a metaphor for dodging responsibility. U.S. President Harry S. Truman was noted for a sign in his office reading "The buck stops here." It was a gift from [ citation needed ] Fred Canfil, who found a similar sign in the warden's office at the Federal Reformatory at El Reno, Oklahoma.
The use of other small disks as such markers led to the alternative term "button". Silver dollars were later used as markers and it has been suggested that this is the origin of "buck" as a slang term for "dollar," though by no means is there universal agreement on this subject. The marker is also referred to as "the hat". The origin of this term is believed to stem from the wearing of a hat having been used to denote dealership.
Today, a dealer button is typically a white plastic disc with the word "Dealer" on each side. While in most home games, the player holding the dealer button deals the cards, in a casino or cardroom, an employee handles this responsibility.
The dealer button is sometimes modified to indicate a secondary detail about the hand being played—for example, a kill game may use a button with the word "Kill" on one side to show that the current hand is a kill pot, and turn the "Dealer" side up to show that the kill is off, or a dealer's choice game might replace the dealer button with a placard indicating the chosen game.
The term "button" is often used to refer to the dealer position, which is the position whose turn to bet comes last. Being "on the button" is therefore the most advantageous and most profitable position in poker.
In casino and card room cash games, the dealer's well may contain an assortment of laminated discs that the dealer may place in front of a player's seat under certain conditions. Properly called lammers (rhymes with 'spammers'), but also referred to as buttons, they are separate from and used differently from a dealer button.
The following table lists the most common lammers and their significance:
| Button | Use |
|---|---|
| All In | Put in front of a player who has wagered all their chips. |
| Blind, Small Blind with Big Blind | Put in front of the players to show they owe the indicated amounts. The blind button is used in single blind games, while the big and small blind are used together in double blind games. |
| Missed Blind, Missed Big Blind, Missed Small Blind | Used to mark the position of a player who has missed their turn to pay a blind. When the player returns, the missed blinds may be paid immediately, or the player may keep the lammer and wait to play until the unpaid blind comes in turn. Which indicative lammer is used depends on the game being played or which blinds are missed. |
| No Player or Absent | Placed on the table at the position of a player that has been away for an extended period. According to World Series of Poker Live Action Rules, after the seat has missed the blinds, each new dealer places an additional lammer in front of the missing player's empty seat. On receiving a third lammer, the absent players chips' could be picked up by the house in order to seat a player waiting to get in the game. |
| Reserved | Put in front of an empty seat to hold it for a player that is arriving soon. |
| Seat Change | A player can request one of these lammers from the dealer and reserve first choice to change seats when a player at the table leaves the game. |
| Third Man Walking | Marks the position of a player who leaves the table when two players are already away. According to World Series of Poker Live Action Rules, the third player's chips' could be picked up by the house to seat a new player if the third player has not returned when the blind comes to their position. |
| Kill/No Kill or Kill/Leg Up | Used exclusively in kill games, these lammers are unique since they read differently on each side to indicate the kill status of the pot, similar to the "On/Off" point marker in Craps. If the kill is active, it is placed "Kill" side up in front of the player who has triggered it to show that player is required to "kill the pot" by posting an increased additional blind for the subsequent hand; Unless the player is also in a regular blind position, which would require only the increased value "kill" blind. If it is not a kill pot, the "No Kill" side is kept up by the dealer. The lammer may also read "Kill" and "Leg Up" on each side to show who has triggered the first half of a requirement to kill the pot ("Leg Up"), or if the pot has been killed. Which of the two differently marked lammers is used depends upon the requirement to trigger the kill pot for that game. |
Five-card draw is a poker variant that is considered the simplest variant of poker, and is the basis for video poker. As a result, it is often the first variant learned by new players. It is commonly played in home games but rarely played in casino and tournament play. The variant is also offered by some online venues, although it is not as popular as other variants such as seven-card stud and Texas hold 'em.
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game was played with just 20 cards, today it is usually played with a standard deck, although in countries where short packs are common, it may be played with 32, 40 or 48 cards. Thus poker games vary in deck configuration, the number of cards in play, the number dealt face up or face down, and the number shared by all players, but all have rules that involve one or more rounds of betting.
Blinds are forced bets posted by players to the left of the dealer button in flop-style poker games. The number of blinds is usually two, but it can range from none to three.
In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing. Different games are played using different types of bets, and small variations in etiquette exist between cardrooms, but for the most part the following rules and protocol are observed by the majority of poker players.
Five-card stud is the earliest form of the card game stud poker, originating during the American Civil War, but is less commonly played today than many other more popular poker games. It is still a popular game in parts of the world, especially in Finland where a specific variant of five-card stud called Sökö is played. The word sökö is also used for checking in Finland.
Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River is a variant of stud poker. Before the 2000s surge of popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was the most widely played poker variant in home games across the United States, and in casinos in the eastern part of the country. Although seven-card stud isn't as common in casinos today, it is still played online. The game is commonly played with two to eight players, though eight may require special rules for the last cards dealt if no players fold. With experienced players who fold often, playing with nine players is possible.
Texas hold 'em is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in three stages. The stages consist of a series of three cards, later an additional single card, and a final card. Each player seeks the best five card poker hand from any combination of the seven cards; the five community cards and their two hole cards. Players have betting options to check, call, raise, or fold. Rounds of betting take place before the flop is dealt and after each subsequent deal. The player who has the best hand and has not folded by the end of all betting rounds wins all of the money bet for the hand, known as the pot. In certain situations, a "split-pot" or "tie" can occur when two players have hands of equivalent value. This is also called a "chop-pot". Texas hold 'em is also the H game featured in HORSE and in HOSE.
Cheating in poker is any behavior outside the rules of poker that is intended to give an unfair advantage to one or more players.
Faro, Pharaoh, Pharao, or Farobank is a late 17th-century French gambling game using cards. It is descended from Basset, and belongs to the Lansquenet and Monte Bank family of games due to the use of a banker and several players. Winning or losing occurs when cards turned up by the banker match those already exposed.
Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position.
Caribbean stud poker, also called casino stud poker, is a casino table game with rules derived from five-card stud poker. However, unlike standard poker games, Caribbean stud poker is played against the house rather than against other players. There is no option to bluff or deceive as this is played against the house and not other players.
Dealer's choice is a style of poker where each player may deal a different variant. As the deal passes clockwise around the table, each player occupying the dealer position chooses a variant which is either played just for the current hand or for an entire orbit. It is a common choice for home games, where the tone of the game is usually more recreational than competitive. It is also rarely played online, due to the complexities involved in creating the appropriate algorithms that would allow the format of poker to change during each hand, or orbit.
A card sharp is a person who uses skill and/or deception to win at poker or other card games. "Sharp" and "shark" spellings have varied over time and by region.
Cheating in casinos refers to actions by the player or the house which are prohibited by regional gambling control authorities. This may involve using suspect apparatus, interfering with apparatus, chip fraud or misrepresenting games. The formally prescribed sanctions for cheating depend on the circumstances and gravity of the cheating and the jurisdiction in which the casino operates. In Nevada, for a player to cheat in a casino is a felony under Nevada law. In most other jurisdictions, specific statutes do not exist, and alleged instances of cheating are resolved by the gambling authority who may have more or less authority to enforce its verdict.
A poker dealer distributes cards to players and manages the action at a poker table.
A dealing shoe or dealer's shoe is a gaming device, mainly used in casinos, to hold multiple decks of playing cards. The shoe allows for more games to be played by reducing the time between shuffles and less chance of dealer cheating. In some games, such as blackjack, using multiple decks of cards can increase the house edge.
In card games, hole carding is the obtaining of knowledge of cards that are supposed to be hidden from view. The term is usually applied to blackjack but can apply to other games with hidden hole cards, like three card poker and Caribbean stud poker. So long as it does not involve the use of a device like a mirror or actions like touching the dealer's cards, in most jurisdictions hole carding is a legal form of advantage gambling. In some games, like stud poker, casinos normally have rules against rubbernecking or having a confederate stand behind an opponent to signal hole cards.
Casino is a collection of card games for the Atari Video Computer System programmed by Bob Whitehead and published by Atari, Inc. in 1978. Supporting up to four players, the game uses the paddle controllers.
The following is a glossary of poker terms used in the card game of poker. It supplements the glossary of card game terms. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon poker slang terms. This is not intended to be a formal dictionary; precise usage details and multiple closely related senses are omitted here in favor of concise treatment of the basics.
Draw poker is any poker variant in which each player is dealt a complete hand before the first betting round, and then develops the hand for later rounds by replacing, or "drawing", cards.