How To Play Poker
The objective of Poker is to win the pot - in our case collection of chips or other bets made by the players during a hand of poker. Basically, there are two ways you can win:
Have the highest ranking hand
Bluffing
Making other players believe that you have the winning hand. It is this strategy that made the expression "poker face" famous.
As in other casino games, players must follow the poker room rules. When you play poker online, it is very important to know the specific poker card combinations or what is called rankings in the poker language.
Poker Rules
Poker is played using a standard pack of 52 cards. (Some variant games use multiple packs or add a few cards called jokers.) The cards are ranked (from high to low) Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.
(Ace can be high or low, but is usually high). There are four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs); however, no suit is higher than another. All poker hands contain five cards. The highest hand wins.
Poker play starts with the dealer handing out the cards clockwise from his or her left. As soon as the cards are dealt, the players are left with four options. You may check the bet (bet nothing but still remain in the game), call the previous bet (bet the same amount as the previous bet), raise the previous bet (increase the amount of the previous bet), or fold (giving up a chance to win the pot by not matching a bet). You can only check when no other players have made any bets and it's your turn in that round.
So, how do you bet?
 Poker is, after all, a gambling game. In most games, you must 'ante' something (amount varies by game limit or game type), just to get dealt cards. In hold'em games instead of "ante", few players are required to place the blinds. After that, players bet into the pot in the middle of the table. At the end of the hand, the highest hand (that hasn't folded) wins the pot.
Here is the typical betting sequence for Texas Hold'em, the most popular poker game on the Internet today.
-Each player is dealt two cards face-down (pocket cards)
-First betting round (lower limit)
-Dealer turns over three community board cards (the flop) face-up
-Second betting round (lower limit)
-Dealer turns over 1 more community board card (the turn)
-Third betting round (higher limit)
-Dealer turns over 1 final community board card (the river)
-Final betting round (higher limit)
Showdown: At the showdown for Texas Hold'em, poker rules require that players may use either:
-Both pocket cards & three board cards
-One pocket card & four board cards
-All five board cards (playing the board)
Limits
There are three types of game limits available in our online poker room: fixed limits, pot limits and no limits.
Fixed Limits
Fixed limits are the predetermined limits for a particular game type, consisting of a lower limit and higher limit.
At the beginning of betting rounds, lower limit applies and final rounds are played with higher limits. Please check the game rules of the individual games to learn the details.
Pot Limit
Once you know how to play our games, the rules for Pot Limits are very easy to learn. The difference between Fixed Limit games and Pot limit games is in the amount of money a player is allowed to bet on each round.
Minimum raise
The minimum raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. For example, if the first player to act bets $10 then the second player must raise a minimum of $10 (total bet of $20).
Maximum raise
The maximum raise is equivalent to the size of the Pot. The size of the pot is defined as the total of the Pot in the middle plus all bets on the table plus the amount the active player must first call before raising.
To ensure a fair gaming environment, each player is limited on how much money he can bring to the table. This provides for competitive games where players with smaller bankrolls would normally have a disadvantage when competing against players with large bankrolls. Please visit our lobby to find the game that suits your bankroll conditions.
No Limit
The difference between Fixed Limit, Pot Limit and No Limit games is in the amount of money a player is allowed to bet on each round.
Minimum raise
The minimum raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. For example, if the first player to act bets $10, then the second player must raise a minimum of $10 (total bet of $20).
Maximum raise
All of the chips you have at the table! |
