[Babul]

ok, the best idea is to see the whole cardset as one array of values from 0 to 51. there are 4*13=52 cards, no joker in poker.. argh that rhymes.
the worthless "color" is the diamond, then increasing to heart, spade, club:

pawn Код:

#define CARDCOLOR_DIAMOND 0
#define CARDCOLOR_HEART 1
#define CARDCOLOR_SPADE 2
#define CARDCOLOR_CLUB 3

now you can work with those "multiplicators", or a fake 2nd array, to use the values 0-12 aswell.
CARDCOLOR_CLUB*13+1 is the ace indeed, where +12 is the king.

let each player hold 5 cards max:

pawn Код:

new PlayerCard[MAX_PLAYERS][5];

now you are facing the problem "how to spread cards to players without repeating a single card?"
to answer this question in advance: how do you do it irl? you take 52 cards,

pawn Код:

new CardsToMix[52]={0,1,...};

then you mix them

pawn Код:

new temp,swapposition;
for(new a=0;a<52;a++)
{
swapposition=random(52);
temp=CardsToMix[a];
CardsToMix[a]=CardsToMix[swapposition];
CardsToMix[swapposition]=temp;
}

now, since the cards are mixed, give each player one, while increasing the "pointer" to the card array by 1 each time..

if any questions arise, i think we all are glad to help :P

@Vince: i agree, poker is not that easy to script, i prefer (french) roulette ^^
scripting the rules "only" maybe is easier than we might think, but when it comes to a NPC opponent, then i would even place a wager on a fail.