A successful ongoing home poker game requires good planning and well-thought-out rules. The key to a good game, of course, is a friendly, fair game that people will want to keep coming back to on a regular basis.

A good home game has rules established well before the game begins to avoid any controversy. Try to follow the rules that normally apply in card clubs and casinos so as to not confuse people who play in both.

Your rules should encompass answers to at least the following questions:

• Is checkraising allowed?
• How will antes be put up? By each player or only by the dealer?
• What is the best low hand? (The great majority of card clubs say that A-2-3-4-5 is the best low, even though it's a straight.)
• If you play a high-low game, how will the parties declare their hand? (Chips in the hand is the most common method.)
• In a high-low game, if one person goes both ways, what happens if he ties one way?
• Who splits the pot if a player going both ways wins only one way?
• What constitutes a misdeal?
• What happens if there is a misdeal?
• If the pot is split up between two players, who gets any odd chip?

Think about putting your rules on paper. Memories fade as to what was agreed upon, so it's helpful to bring out the rules in the event of any controversy.