POKER GAMES

Texas Hold'em Poker

Texas Hold’em is the most common poker game and the game that most new players start with. It is also one of the easiest games to learn with only two cards in the hand. However, it takes a lot of skill to master.

Texas Hold’em, a poker game for two to 10 players, follows fairly simple rules. The object is to make the best five-card poker hand using any combination of the two cards dealt face down to you and the five common cards dealt face up on the table. Here are the basics of Texas Hold’em:

The Dealer. Cards are dealt from the position of Dealer, which rotates clockwise around the table after each hand. The player designated as Dealer for a given hand is identified by a round "D" marker on the table. The software will automatically deal cards on behalf of the Dealer.
Blinds. To start the game of Texas Hold’em, the player to the left of the Dealer puts up the Small Blind (which is usually half the minimum bet) and the player to his left posts the Big Blind (equal to the minimum bet). This gets the pot started and encourages other players to place bets. They re called "blinds" because these bets are made before any cards are seen.
The Deal. Each player is dealt two cards, called pocket cards, which are visible only to the player holding them.
Betting. After all Texas Hold’em players have received their two pocket cards, there is a Round of Betting starting with the player to the left of the player who posted the Big Blind. Depending on prior activity in the current hand of play, a player can fold, check, call, bet, raise or re-raise within the bounds of the Game Limits and Table Stakes. A round of betting may circle the table several times if there are raises and re-raises. The round ends when all players have either called the last bet or folded.
The Flop. Next comes the flop, where three cards are dealt face-up in the common area of the table, followed by another round of betting.
The Turn. Then comes the turn, where a fourth common card is dealt face-up next to the flop, and a third round of betting occurs.
The River. The final common card, called the river, is placed face-up next to the turn and is followed by the last round of betting.
The Showdown. The Showdown occurs after betting concludes. The remaining Texas Hold’em players compare the best five-card poker hands they make using any combination of their two pocket cards and the five common cards. The player with the highest hand rank takes the pot. Occasionally, two or more players will have hands of equal rank or the best possible hand is comprised using all five common cards. In these cases, the players involved share the pot.
Next Hand. After the pot is distributed, the Dealer button moves to the next player on the left (clockwise around the table), and the players to the left of the new Dealer post blinds so the deal for a new hand of Texas Hold’em can start.

Omaha Poker

Omaha is a variation of Texas Hold'em where the players receive four cards instead of two. They have to use two of their personal cards when they combine their hand with the board, creating the best 5-Card hand. With four cards in the hand there are more playable hands than in Texas Hold'em and therefore Omaha is considered a game with plenty of action.

Omaha Poker (also called Omaha High), a game for two to 10 players, follows fairly simple rules. The objective is to make the best five-card poker hand using two of the four cards dealt face down to you and three of the five common cards dealt face up on the table. Here are the basics of Omaha Poker:

The Dealer. Cards are dealt from the position of Dealer, which rotates clockwise around the table after each hand. The player designated as Dealer for a given hand is identified by a round "D" marker on the table. The software will automatically deal cards on behalf of the Dealer.
Blinds. To start the game of Omaha Poker, the player to the left of the Dealer puts up the Small Blind (which is usually half the minimum bet) and the player to his left posts the Big Blind (equal to the minimum bet). This gets the pot started and encourages other players to place bets. They are called "blinds" because these bets are made before any cards are seen.
The Deal. Each player is dealt four cards, called pocket cards or hole cards, which are visible only to the player holding them.
Betting. After all Omaha Poker players have received their four cards, there is a round of betting starting with the player to the left of the player who posted the Big Blind. Depending on prior activity in the current hand of play, a player can fold, check, call, bet, raise or re-raise within the bounds of the Game Limits and Table Stakes. A round of betting may circle the table several times if there are raises and re-raises. The round ends when all players have either called the last bet or folded.
The Flop. Next comes the flop, where three cards are dealt face-up in the common area of the table, followed by another round of betting.
The Turn. Then comes the turn, where a fourth common card is dealt face-up next to the flop, and a third round of betting occurs.
The River. The final common card, called the river, is placed face-up next to the turn and is followed by the last round of betting.
The Showdown. The Showdown occurs after betting concludes. The remaining Omaha Poker players compare the best five-card poker hands. Each player must use two of their pockets cards and three of the common cards in order to comprise their five-card poker hand. No other combinations are allowed; players may not use all five common cards as they can in Texas Hold’em. The player with the highest hand rank wins the pot. Occasionally, two or more players will have hands of equal rank. In this case, the players involved share the pot.
Next Hand. After the pot is distributed, the Dealer button moves to the next player on the left (clockwise around the table), and the players to the left of the new Dealer post blinds so the deal for a new hand of Omaha Poker can start.

Omaha Hi/Lo

Owing to its frequently large pots, Omaha Hi/Lo (also called "Omaha High Low", “Omaha H/L”, “Omaha/8” or "Omaha 8-or-better ") has become a hugely popular game around the world. Each player in an Omaha Hi/Lo game is dealt four private cards ("hole cards") that belong only to that player. Five community cards are dealt face-up on the "board". All players use exactly two cards from their four hole cards in conjunction with exactly three cards from the board to make the best five-card poker hand possible. The pot is divided between the best hand for high and the best hand for low - hence the name, Omaha Hi/Lo.

Omaha Hi/Lo is played with an "8-or-better" qualifier, which means that a hand must be at least an 8-7-6-5-4 low to be eligible to win the low portion of the pot. Low hands in Omaha Hi/Lo are determined in exactly the same way they're determined in 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo.

Seven Card Stud

Seven Card Stud was the most popular game in USA before Texas Hold'em took the lead. In Seven Card Stud there are no community cards, to become a skilled Seven Card Stud player you need to be able to remember cards that are out and adjust your play according to what cards remain in the deck.

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

Ante
Before a game of Seven Card Stud begins, all players ante a nominal amount. This is the cost of being dealt into the hand.

Third Street
Each player is initially dealt three cards, two hidden hole cards and one face up. The player with the lowest exposed card is the ‘bring-in’, and is forced to start the action. They must make either another nominal bet (the exact size of the bring-in depends on the game) or, if they choose, a full bet of the lower betting increment. Action continues clockwise around the table until betting is complete for the round.

Fourth Street
Each player now receives another exposed card, called ‘Fourth Street’. The first player to act is the individual whose exposed cards have the highest poker value. There is a round of betting.

Fifth Street
Each player now receives another exposed card, called ‘Fifth Street’. Again the first player to act is the individual whose exposed cards have the highest poker value. There is a round of betting.

Starting on Fifth Street and for the rest of the hand, all bets are in big bet increments.

Sixth Street
Each player now receives another exposed card, called ‘Sixth Street’. Again, the first player to act is the individual whose exposed cards have the highest poker value. There is a round of betting.

Seventh Street, or The River
Each player now receives a seventh and final card, which is dealt face-down and known only to the player to whom the card is dealt. The first player to act is the individual whose exposed cards have the highest poker value. There is a final betting round, and if more than one player remains, we reach the Showdown.

The Showdown
If there is more than one remaining player when the final betting round is complete, the last bettor or raiser shows his or her cards first. If there was no bet on the final round, the player in the earliest seat shows his or her cards first (Seat 1, then Seat 2, and so on). Further hands involved in the Showdown are exposed clockwise around the table.

The player with the best five-card poker hand wins the pot. In the event of identical poker hands, the pot will be equally divided between the players with the best hands.

After the pot is awarded, a new online game of Seven Card Stud poker is ready to be played.

Player Betting Options
In Stud, as with other forms of poker, the available actions are ‘fold’, ‘check’, ‘bet’, ‘call’ or ‘raise’. Exactly which options are available depends on the action taken by the previous players. Each poker player always has the option to fold, to discard their cards and give up any interest in the pot. If nobody has yet made a bet, then a player may either check (decline to bet, but keep their cards) or bet. If a player has bet, then subsequent players can fold, call or raise. To call is to match the amount the previous player has bet. To raise is to not only match the previous bet, but to also increase it. Bets and raises in Limit games are in pre-determined amounts.

Additional Stud Rules and Situations
•For the purpose of determining the bring-in in Seven Card Stud, ties in card rank are broken by suit. The suits are ranked in alphabetical order – clubs (lowest), diamonds, hearts and spades (highest). The lowest suit breaks a tie, so if the deuce of hearts and deuce of clubs are visible at the beginning of the hand, then the deuce of clubs would have the bring-in. (Note: The ranking of equal hands at the Showdown is not determined by this rule.)
•If the player with the lowest card showing on Third Street is all-in for the ante and they are consequently unable to make the required bring-in bet, the bring-in moves clockwise to the next player at the table, regardless of the value of that player’s exposed card.
•On Fourth Street, if any player shows a pair, the betting can optionally be opened or raised for one big bet. Once someone makes the ‘big bet’ in this situation, the bigger bet amount continues for the remainder of the Fourth Street betting.
•Because Stud games are played with eight players but there are only 52 cards in the deck, it’s possible to run out of cards before Seventh Street can be dealt. In this very rare instance, a single ‘community card’ will be dealt face-up on the table, which will be shared by all remaining players.

Other Stud Variants
In the variant of Seven Card Stud, called Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, there are two potential winners in each hand, one person for holding the best high hand and one person for holding the best low hand, provided the low hand is an eight-low or better.