Model and I hand out cards (5)
I believe the answer is:
ideal
'model' is the definition.
(I know that ideal is a type of model)
'i hand out cards' is the wordplay.
'hand out cards' becomes 'deal' (as in dealing for a card game).
'i'+'deal'='IDEAL'
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for ideal that I've seen before include "Model of excellance" , "Paradigm" , "Quite perfect, can't be improved on" , "Model of ethical behaviour" , "Perfect for the purpose" .)