GAME RULES: The
Basics
The basics of poker are simple.
The object of the game is to win the pot - or the sum of money
being wagered throughout the course of a game (minus the 'rake').
Winning is possible in the following
ways:
You bluff your opponent into thinking that you have
the better cards and he folds.
Every poker game starts with
some or all players putting a certain amount of money or chips
into the pot. This initial obligatory bet, or fee, is called the
Ante or Blind. An ante is
when every player puts a fixed nominal percentage of the minimum
stake into the pot - as is the case in Seven Card Stud.
If a blind is required (like in
Texas Holdem or Omaha), the two players to the left of the dealer
(designated by the 'dealer button') will start the pot, clockwise
from the dealer, with the first player placing the small blind (half the minimum bet) and the next player placing the big blind (the minimum bet). Rotation assures that every
player gets their turn to post blinds.
Now it's time to deal the
cards. Once you have paid your blinds, there are no more mandatory
wagers to be made and you can then take the various opportunities
to decide whether or not you wish to play on or fold. You can bet
as much as you are able or allowed to, or you can save your chips
and show the other players that you are an experienced player.
Only rookies see out every game!
In addition, you have the
opportunity to win more money from other players by betting on a
good hand. Normally, there are three raises per betting round
possible, whereas the raises are bound to a limit. If you are
betting and nobody calls, you win without showing your cards. If
the bet is called, cards must be shown and the player with the
best hand wins. In case the amount in the pot is uneven and the
pot is split, the first active player to the left of the dealer
button gets the extra chip. In Hi/Lo games, the High always gets
this extra chip.
Poker is an easy-to-learn game
of friendly competition. Combined with a bit of thought, strategy
and basic know-how, it can offer a great deal of fun and enjoyment
while at the same time providing you with useful life training.
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GAME
RULES: Blind / Ante Rules
On Texas Hold'em tables and Omaha tables, to take
part in the action, you must regularly pay the blinds. In cash
game play, you have the option of not paying the blinds and
sitting out from the play. In tournament game play, paying the
blinds is obligatory.
There are two blinds - the small blind and the
big blind. The big blind is set at the lower limit of the table
and the small blind is generally half the size of the big blind.
In most games, the player to the left of the dealer button must
pay the small blind and the next player must pay the big blind. In
heads-up matches, the dealer pays the small blind and his opponent
pays the big blind. At the start of each new game, the dealer
button will move one place around the table and thus the blind
paying players will change. A player who pays the big blind in a
game will pay the small blind in the next game and a player who
pays the small blind in a game will receive the dealer button in
the next game (except in heads-up play).
If a player does not pay one of the blinds, he
will be expected to pay both blinds before he can take part in a
game.
When a player joins a running table, he will be
expected to pay the big blind before he can take part in a game.
He can either pay the blind at the next possible opportunity or
choose to wait until he is in the big blind position. If a player
pays a blind when not in the blind position, he will have to pay
that blind again when he is in the position if he wants to take
part in future games.
When players are reseated in tournaments, we try
to reseat them in a fair manner such that they are seated in the
closest matching position in relation to the dealer button so that
they do not experience a loss (or a gain) in position due to the
reseating.
See all Blind
& Ante Values.
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GAME RULES:
Betting Rules
So, how do you bet? Poker is, after all, a gambling game. In
most games, you must 'ante' something (amount varies by game, our
games are typically a nickel), just to get dealt cards. After that
players bet into the pot in the middle. At the end of the hand,
the highest hand (that hasn't folded) wins the pot. Basically,
when betting gets around to you (betting is typically done in
clockwise order), you have one of three choices:
Call
-
When you call, you bet enough to match what has been bet
since the last time you bet (for instance, if you bet a dime
last time, and someone else bet a quarter, you would owe fifteen
cents).
Raise
-
When you raise, you first bet enough to match what has been
bet since the last time you bet (as in calling), then you
'raise' the bet another amount (up to you, but there is
typically a limit.) Continuing the above example, if you had bet
a dime, the other person raised you fifteen cents (up to a
quarter), you might raise a quarter (up to fifty cents). Since
you owed the pot 15 cents for calling and 25 for your raise, you
would put 40 cents into the pot.
Fold
-
When you fold, you drop out of the current hand (losing any
possibility of winning the pot), but you don't have to put any
money into the pot.
Betting continues until everyone calls or folds after a raise
or initial bet.
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GAME RULES: Hand
Rankings
A standard poker deck contains
52 cards. Card rankings run downward from Ace-King-Queen-Jack and
so on down to 2 (two). The Ace, however, can be used as a 1 (one)
for a straight from one to five. The four suits are spades,
hearts, diamonds and clubs.
Most poker games are played
with seven cards with which you must build the best 5-card hand.
Possible winning hands are classified in order based upon the odds
of their occurrence and are ranked, starting with the highest, as
follows:
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GAME
RULES: All In
A player can never be forced out of a hand
because he does not have enough chips to call a bet. However, a player can only win (from each opposing player)
as many chips as he bets. If a player only puts 50 chips
into a pot, he can only win 50 chips from each opposing player.
A side pot is a pot containing
the chips over and above what an all in player has contributed to
the main pot. For example, if two players each
bet 100 chips and a third player goes all in with 60 chips, there
would be a main pot of 180 (60 x 3) and a side pot of 80 (40 x 2).
All three players would be eligible to win the main pot, but only
the two players who contributed chips to the side pot would be
eligible to win that side pot.
It can get complicated when two or more players
go all in, resulting in multiple side pots. As a general rule, the
first player to go all in is eligible for the main pot only. The
next all in player is eligible for the first side pot and the main
pot and the next all in player is eligible for the second side
pot, the first side pot and the main pot, etc.
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