Free card
There might be a round of poker where no player receives a card that is good enough to bet on. In such a case, no player opens the betting round and every simply checks on to the next player. After the entire round of only checking is completed, the dealer may give one player, the first one in the round, a free card.
The free card is an opportunity of sorts to improve one’s hands without placing any bet. In most formats of the game, the card may be placed on the board as well, so as to benefit all the players and not just any single person. The objective is to simply improve the hand of at least one of the players, if not more, so as to increase the betting rate and make the game more interesting.
In case the card is being handed out to a single player, then the player doesn’t really need to make any bets to receive the free card although if s/he believes that the card has made a difference to the hand, then s/he can make bets and the game continues as normal. It is normally preferred, amongst most circles of poker, that the free card be placed as a community card rather than given to a player as it improves everyone’s chances rather than favouring one single player.
The free card is not a part of the flop, turn or river actions for the community board and is totally disassociated from all other parts of the game.
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