Buck
The buck is the name of the token that is used to mark who the dealer is during a poker game. Normally, in casinos or competitions where there is a house dealer, the buck stays with the person however in home games, there is no constant dealer and therefore, the last person to act on each deal, or the person to deal out the cards, is known as the buck.
The concept began in the mid 19th century after poker became famous as a saloon game. The games were usually dealt by the players themselves and it was during the deal that the players had the best chance to cheat and win the game. To avoid such a situation, the rotating dealer system was evolved and that led to the rise of the dealer button or the buck, which would constantly rotate with the dealers around the table.
In the initial days, a knife was commonly used for this practice and since their handles were usually made of a buck’s horn, the counter became known as a buck. Soon the phrase passing the buck also became synonymous with the game and the buck had crawled its way into the rules of the game, and it was there to stay.
Today, the buck is usually a white disc with dealer written on either side of it. The dealer button does undergo modifications for e.g. it may show the “kill” sign to indicate that there is a kill game on, a secondary detail that otherwise would not be displayed in any way. Similarly, a return back to the “dealer” position would indicate that the kill game was no longer in play.
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