Rules
Rules - Texas Hold'Em
Texas Hold’Em is one of the most popular poker variants and is played with up to 10 players. The game is played over 4 betting rounds. The objective of the game is for a player to combine his/her hole cards and/or the community cards to achieve better combinations than the other players.
At the beginning of the game, the two players to the left of the dealer must place their bets or fold. The first player to the left of the dealer is the Small Blind. The second player to the left of the dealer is the Big Blind. The Small Blind must place his/her stake first, which is half of the minimum stake. The stake of the Big Blinds is the minimum stake. The stakes of the Blinds therefore are automatic. Each of the players then receives two cards (hand cards) face down. The remaining players then place their bets, call or fold, whereby they leave the game. Finally, the ‘flop’ (the first three community cards) is laid in the middle of the table.
The second betting round follows, beginning with the first player to the left of the dealer. The players call or check. To ‘check’ means to pass on the right to open the betting to the next player (clockwise). If, within a round, a player has already made a bet, none of the players after this player may check. Instead they must call, raise or fold. If every player in a round checks, the next card is dealt. The next card is also dealt out when each player has bet the same amount. If a player wishes to raise, he/she must, depending on the game, bet at least double of the Big Blind (e.g. with a Big Blind of 5, the player must bet at least 10).
Following completion of the 2nd betting round, the 4th community card, known as “Turn” is laid on the table. The 3rd betting round follows and is played in exactly the same way as the previous betting rounds. Upon its conclusion, the 5th community card is laid, known as “River”. The final betting round follows.
If there are more than two players still in the game at the end of the final round, the game is decided by a showdown, whereby the player with the best 5 card combination wins the game. This combination can be achieved by using the hand cards and/or the community cards. Both, one or none of the hand cards can be used here. If the best combination is formed by using just the community cards, the winnings are equally divided between the remaining players. If the players have the same card combinations, the kicker decides the winner.
E.g.: Player A has a 5 and a King. There is also a 5 in the community cards. Therefore, the player has One Pair and the King is the kicker. Player B also has a 5 and a Queen. Therefore, player B has One Pair with a Queen as the kicker. In this case, player A wins as his King kicker is higher than the Queen of player B.
Following the showdown, the role of the dealer is passed on (clockwise). This is displayed on the screen by the ‘D’ in the box of the player due to deal. The positions of the players also shift accordingly.
Rules - Omaha
In Omaha, each player receives 4 hand cards. The aim of the game is to achieve the best 5-card combination using 2 hand cards and 3 community cards. Otherwise, the game follows the same pattern as Texas Hold’Em.
Rules – 5 Card Draw
5-Card Draw is the poker game made famous by westerns. The game runs over two betting rounds. The aim is to achieve the best card combination among the players by exchanging the cards in the hand.
At the beginning of the game, the two players to the left of the dealer must place their stakes or fold. The first player to the left of the dealer is the Small Blind. The second player to the left of the dealer is the Big Blind. The Small Blind must place his/her stake first, which is half of the minimum stake. The stake of the Big Blinds is the minimum stake. The stakes of the Blinds therefore are automatic. Each of the players then receives five cards face down. The remaining players then place their bets, call or fold, whereby they leave the game. The 1st betting round follows beginning with the player to the left of the dealer. The players bet, call or check. To ‘check’ means to pass on the right to bet to the next player. If, within a round, a player has already made a bet, none of the players after this player may check. Instead they must call, raise or fold. The players can bet the same amount. If a player wishes to raise, he/she must, depending on the game, bet at least the value of the Big Blind. In higher betting rounds in Fixed Limit games, the minimum stake is higher. In a No Limit game, the minimum amount for a raise is only higher if a player has already bet or raised. The minimum amount for a raise is then the amount that was bet previously, or by how much was raised.
After completion of the betting round, each player has the opportunity to exchange some or even all of his/her cards. Exchanging the cards, however, is not compulsory. To exchange cards, the player need only click on the unwanted card(s), and then on the button “Draw”. Should the player not wish to exchange cards, he/she need only click on the “Draw” button, without selecting any cards beforehand. Alternatively, the player can wait until the move time runs out. The second betting round then follows. Following completion of this round, the results are calculated. The winner is the player who holds the best card combination.
Following the calculation of results, the role of the dealer, indicated by the letter “D” in the box of the corresponding player, passes on to the next player in a clockwise fashion. The positions of the players change accordingly.
