The Betting Rules

Some of the questions you should ask before sitting down to play are: Is check-raising allowed? Is a flat bet imposed, or is there variable betting? In seven-card stud, does the low card bring it in or the high card? How many raises are allowed? Does the player who opens the pot have to bet first next round?
Whatever the rules, you should be thoroughly familiar with them before you sit down to play. Don't make the mistake a friend of mine made the first time he ever played draw poker in Gardena. He is the only man I know who made a royal flush but lost the hand. In Gardena you need jacks or better to open, and a joker is used as a bug. That is, the joker may be used with straights, flushes, and aces; it cannot be used to make a pair except with aces.
My friend N.S. bought into a $2-$4 draw poker game for $40, and the first hand he picked up was an ace-high straight:
He was in third position behind the dealer. The man under the gun checked, the second man checked, and N.S. gleefully bet $2. Everyone behind him folded, but then bang! The man in first position raised, and the man in second position reraised. Stupefied, N.S. called the double raise, and the first raiser called the reraise.