On a lucky day, if you are on a winning streak, have a few shots (2 or 3) at one of the $5 big-payouts machines. You never know! If you win - anything - take the cash and leave. Don't replay or recycle any of the winnings.

Once assigned, the dealer receives the deck of cards (52) and shuffles. Each player pays the 'ante', which is a small flat fee you pay to purchase the right to play that round. The antes and all other subsequent bets in the course of around, go into the center of the table in a pile called 'pot'.

"I have always wondered if the results of the Versailles Conferences would have been different if Woodrow Wilson had been a poker player." - Clyde Brion Davis