Friday, April 19, 2024    

 
Poker Rules

Popular Online Poker Games

Texas Hold'em
In Texas Hold'em, each player is given two pocket cards. The game continues with a total of five community cards face up - first the (the "flop"), then one after the other (the "turn" and the "river"). Between each deal there is a round of betting.

Hold'em is played with two blinds (forced bets before the pocket cards are received). The first two players to the left of the dealer pay the blinds. The small blind is posted by the first player and the big blind by the second. In heads-up games, the player seated after the dealer pays the big blind. The first two betting rounds are played with the lower limit while the last two rounds of betting are played with the higher limit.

Omaha
Omaha is a poker game derived from Texas Hold’em. Each player is dealt four cards ("hole cards"), which belong only to that player. Five community cards are dealt face-up on the "board". All players use three of the five community cards together with two of their hole cards to make the best five-card poker hand.

Omaha Hi/Lo
The player with the best five-card hand for high wins half the pot, and the player with the best hand for low wins the other half. In Omaha, players must use two and only two of their four hole cards in combination with three cards from the board. In the event of identical hands, the high and low shares of the pot will be equally divided between the players with the best hands. In the event that no hand qualifies for low, the best hand(s) for high win(s) the entire pot.

For a five card hand to qualify for low, it cannot include cards higher than 8 or contain any pairs. Aces can be used for both high and low. When comparing low hands, the winner is the hand with the lowest high card, thus 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 is better than A, 2, 3, 4, 8. The best possible low hand is A, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Seven Card Stud
In Seven Card Stud, players are dealt seven cards throughout the course of the hand, but only the best five-card hand possible for each player is used to determine the winner.

Before a game of Seven Card Stud starts, all players ante a nominal amount, for example $1 in a $10-$20 game. Each player is dealt two hidden hole cards and one exposed card. The player with the lowest exposed card is the "bring-in," and is forced to make a wager of either a half a small bet or a full small bet (for example, either $1 or $2 in a $2/$4 game). Action continues clockwise around the table until betting is complete for the round.

In the unlikely event that all 8 players are still in the hand on the river, the total number of cards needed for all the players to receive their own card would not be available in a standard deck of cards. In this case the river card is dealt face up on the table and it will be used as a community card.

Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo
The player with the best five-card hand for high wins half the pot, and the player with the best hand for low wins the other half. In the event that no hand qualifies for low, the best hand(s) for high win(s) the pot.
 

Betting Structures

Limit
In structured limit games, the only valid bet/raise is the current limit, for example $5 on the first two rounds in a $5-$10 Hold'em game. There may be a maximum of 4 bet/raises in a round of betting. This includes a bet, a raise, a re-raise and a cap.

No-Limit
In no-limit, a valid bet/raise must be at least the higher of the current limit and the last bet/raise. No higher limit is available, other than the players’ credits. No maximum number of raises exists.

Pot-Limit
In pot-limit, the valid bet/raise must be at least the higher of the current limit and the last bet/raise. A pot-limit bet/raise may be at highest the value of the pot, plus all bets at the table including the current players call. No maximum number of raises exists.