The dealer deals everyone their first card, then goes back around the circle to deal the second, and so on. As soon as everyone has five cards, the remainder of the deck is placed in the middle of the table, and play begins. Each player looks at his or her cards, and then the first player places a bet. While there are several ways of deciding who bets first, poker novices are best off letting the player directly to the left of the dealer make the first bet. Then on the next hand, the person to his left will bet first, and so on around the table for each new hand.
Players have several options as far as the first round of betting goes.
When a player checks, it means that he or she doesn't want to open the betting, but doesn't want to quit either. When someone else opens, you can always jump ship and cut your losses. In other words, you give up early and lose your dough. This option is used when you think your hand is too weak to compete. At this point, all the players who haven't folded are allowed to get rid of the cards they don't want and take some new cards.