Poker Help

How to Play

Dealer

In Texas Hold'em the button, also called the "dealer button", indicates who the dealer is. The dealer button moves clockwise around the players.

Blinds

Texas Hold'em is played with two blinds, the "small blind" and the "big blind". Before any cards are dealt the blinds must be posted. The player to the left of the dealer posts the small blind and the next player in turn posts the big blind.

The blinds are considered as "live" bets. If you have posted a blind you are only required to make up the difference, if any, between the blind and the current bet. The players in the blinds have the option to fold, call, check or raise in turn.

Ante

Ante is similar to blinds, but instead of two players posting, every player who wants to play the current poker hand posts a small amount that goes into the pot, this is called Ante. Ante is only used in tournaments.

Royal Hold'em

Royal Hold'em is a version of Texas Hold'em, played without deuces through nines, leaving only the tens, jacks, queens, kings, and aces.

Royal Hold'em can only be played with a maximum of six players because there are only 20 cards in the deck.

With 5 community cards, 3 burn cards, and 2 pocket cards per player, a six player table will use all 20 cards in the deck.

Texas Hold'em

The player who has not folded his cards can win the pot, the winner is determined by the best poker hand.

In Texas Hold'em, the players share the community cards. The players use their hole cards together with the community cards to make their poker hand. A player can only make a poker hand that has five cards in it. You may use both hole cards, one hole card or no hole card at all, in order to see which poker hand you have. If you aren't using any cards at all, you are playing with the community cards only.

Omaha

Omaha poker rules are based on Texas Hold'em with these main differences:

Players are dealt four pocket cards.

1. Player MUST use two pocket cards and three community cards to make the best possible poker hand.
2. There can be a maximum of 10 players.
3. Each player is dealt four cards face down (the pocket cards). Then the first betting round begins.

Rounds are the same as in Texas Hold'em:

1. Pre Flop - Four cards are dealt to every player face down, starting with the small blind.
2. The Flop - the dealer lays out the first three community cards in the center of the table.
3. The Turn - A fourth card is dealt face up in the middle of the table.
4. The River - A fifth and final card is dealt face up in the middle of the table.

The player with the best 5-card hand wins.

Note: you cannot Play the Board as two cards have to come from your hand. For example, the Board is 10 J Q K A. And your hand is 4 4 A 5, this means your final hand is: A A K Q 5

Omaha Hi/Lo

Omaha Hi/Lo is identical to Omaha poker except for the showdown. It's a split-pot game, so at showdown the pot is usually divided in half. One half is awarded to the best high hand, and the other half is awarded to the best low hand.

The best high hand is identical to the best hand in regular Omaha.

The best low hand, however, must qualify to be eligible to win the low hand half of the pot. If there is no eligible low hand, the entire pot is awarded to the player with the best high hand.

The qualifications for the low hand are:

1. The hand must be comprised of two pocket cards and three community cards.
2. All cards used must be unpaired cards eight or lower.
3. Low hands are counted from the highest card to the lowest card.
4. Aces are considered low for the low hand.
5. Flushes and straights are ignored for the low hand.
6. Suits do not matter for low hand, so if multiple users have the best low hand they will split that half of the pot.
7. The best low hand is 5-4-3-2-A, and the worst low hand is 8-7-6-5-4.

There are also a couple of important rules regarding the showdown:

1. If the pot cannot be split equally, the extra odd chip is always awarded to the high hand half of the pot.
2. The same player can win one or both halves of the pot, using the same or different cards for each hand.

Game Types

No Limit

No limit poker means that you can bet as much as you're sitting with at the table.

Fixed Limit

Fixed limit poker means that you can bet a fixed amount each betting round. In a 2/4 game, you can bet, raise or re-raise 2 before the flop, 2 on the flop, at the turn and river card you can bet, raise or re-raise 4 each round.

Pot Limit

Pot limit poker is a game where you can bet the size of the pot plus any previous player bets or raises.

Mixed Limit

Mixed Limit is a poker is a game where you can bet the size of the pot plus any previous player bets or raises on the pre-flop and as much as you're sitting with at the table afterwards. It's also referred to as Pot Limit Pre-Flop, No Limit Post-Flop.

Game Play

Hole Cards

Each player is dealt two cards face down. They are called hole cards

Community Cards

The cards dealt to the table are split into three rounds of betting, together they are called community cards.

The Flop

The flop consists of three cards, these cards are dealt to the table after the first betting round is completed.

The Turn

This card is dealt when the flop betting round is completed.

The River

This card is dealt when the turn betting round is completed

All-In

When a player is all-in it means that all the money they have at the table is in the pot. A player that is all-in can only win as many chips from the other players as they have put into the pot.

If other players put in more chips, a side pot is created. More than one side pot can be created if several players are all-in. When you are all-in you will stay in the current poker hand until showdown. No player can ever make a single bet larger than the amount they have at the table.

Showdown

Showdown means that the players in the pot show their hole cards. Showdown can only take place when all betting rounds are complete or when a player is all in.

Regular Tables

Up to ten players are allowed to play in the same game on a regular table.

Short Handed Tables

A short handed table is a table with six seats or less.