Poker : Watch the Dealer Button on Televised Texas Hold'em Poker

Dear Mark,
Pardon the simplicity of this question, but how do they figure who deals, and when, when I am watching televised poker?
Tammy J.

When you watch televised poker, you are watching Texas Hold'em played with as many as 10 players. Look closely at the TV image next time, Tammy, and you'll notice a small disk (brings to mind a hockey puck but usually white) sitting just in front of one of the contestants. This disk is called the "button."

The button shows who would be dealing the cards if he or she were actually the dealer. Holding the dealer button is an advantage in Texas Hold ' em because the dealer is the last player to act. By acting last, that player has valuable additional information when it's betting time. This positional advantage remains throughout the hand, then passes - clockwise - to the next player for the next hand. Thus, all players in the game have equal opportunities to hold this rotating positional advantage.