Omaha

| Game rules

Texas Holdem

| Game rules

Texas Hold'em – Limit
Up to 10 players are sitting at a table. You will see avatars representing the players when sat at a table, plus an additional one representing the dealer.

The dealer button moves one position to the left before each hand. This button originates from when players in the group took turns to deal the cards. In our poker room, there is a virtual dealer who does the actual dealing (sitting in the middle of the left hand side of the table, behind the chip tray). The virtual dealer does not participate in the game in any way other than dealing cards.

Blinds
First, the two players directly to the left of the dealer button must post "blinds", that is to place a bet before the cards are dealt. This is to stimulate action on every hand. Since the dealer button moves one position clockwise every hand, everyone has to post blinds at some point in the game. The player to the immediate left of the dealer button posts the "small blind", equal to half of the minimum stake. The player to the left of the small blind posts the "big blind", equal to the amount of the minimum stake.

Pocket Cards
After the blinds, the first cards are dealt. Every player gets two cards face down. These are called pocket cards.

First Betting Round
Betting begins with the player immediately to the left of the big blind and continues in a clockwise direction around the table. Every player can fold, call or raise. Raising is possible by the lower table stake only.

The Flop Cards
Now three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. These cards are called the flop cards. These are "community" cards and can be used by all the players to make up their hand.

Second Betting Round
Second round of betting follows. This is carried out exactly as the first betting round, but begins with the player who paid the small blind, or the first player on his left who is still in the hand.

Third Betting Round – The Turn Card
After the second round of betting, a fourth "community" card is dealt face up in the middle of the table. This is called the "Turn card". It is followed by a third round of betting.  

Fourth Betting Round – The River Card
Finally, a fifth and final "community" card is dealt. It is called the "River card" and is followed by a fourth and final round of betting.

Showdown
After the final betting round, the best five-card hand is determined. Both the pocket cards and the community cards can be used to make up a hand. The player with the best five-card poker hand wins the pot. Players can also split the pot if they have the same hand.

Start again
After a hand is completed and the pot taken by the winner, the dealer button is moved one player to the left, and the next hand begins.

Betting system
The player left of the big blind starts the betting round, betting order goes around the table clockwise. Everyone is betting according to what they think their hand will lead to.

Fold
If you don’t like your cards, you can fold. If you have posted a blind, made a bet or raised a bet, you will lose that money. But you will not lose any more. After folding, you are out of the game until the next hand.

Check/Call
You can stay in the game by checking or calling. If no bet has been made before you, you can check without placing any money in the pot. If a bet has been made (this includes the blinds), you can call by placing the same amount in the pot.

Bet/Raise/Re-raise/Re-re-raise
If you think your hand is good enough, you can make a bet. If another player has already made a bet, you can raise it.

Bet amounts are fixed by the table stakes. For example, in a $5/$10 table, bets are $5 in the first two rounds and $10 in the last two. There can be one bet and three raises in each round (bet, raise, re-raise, re-re-raise). After three raises, the betting round is capped and the next card is dealt (or, if it is the final betting round, the best hand is determined).

All-in
When a player runs out of chips during the course of a hand, he/she does not have to fold. Instead the player will be deemed to have gone “all-in”. When you are all-in, you call all your chips and the pot is divided into the main pot and side pot. All subsequent chips are thereafter added to the side pot, and cannot be won by the all-in player.  At the showdown if the all-in player does not have a winning hand, both the side pot and the main pot go to the winning hand, as usual. At the showdown if the all-in player has a winning hand, the main pot goes to the all-in player, and the side pot goes to the next best hand. When several players go all-in, multiple side pots are created. The pots are divided according to hand and order in which the players went all-in. If a player not all-in at the showdown has the winning hand he wins all side pots and the main pot. If an all-in player has the best hand he/she wins the pot or pots that were collected until he/she went all-in. Any all-in player with a winning hand can only win the pot or pots they are involved in. A betting round continues until all players have folded or called the third raise, or until a bet has been called by all players (except the one who placed the bet) with no raise taking place.  

Omaha poker is an exciting variation of Texas Hold'em poker using the same betting sequence and community cards, but with two significant differences: For the initial deal each player receives four hole cards face down. At the showdown, a player must use exactly two of their four hole cards along with exactly three board cards (community cards).

Betting Sequence

Small blind and big blinds are posted by the two players to the left of the button.  Initial deal of four cards dealt face down to each player.  First betting round. Three community cards are dealt face up in the centre of the table. These are known as the flop. Second betting round. A fourth community card is dealt face up in the centre of the table, known as the turn card. Third betting round. A fifth and final community card is dealt face up in the centre of the table, known as the river card. Fourth and final betting round. Showdown to claim the winning hand.

Omaha Hi-Lo, Game rules

Omaha Hi/Lo is an interesting variation of Omaha, whereby the pot is split in half, with one half being awarded to the best high hand (as in Omaha high) and the other half going to the best low hand (with requirements). Each player is dealt four hole cards, whereby exactly two may be used to make the best High hand or Low hand. Five community cards are used as in Hold’em and Omaha high, with the flop, followed by the turn and the river.

The game is often described as ‘Omaha, 8’s or better’ (sometimes abbreviated to O8) as a reference to the necessity for a Low hand to meet qualification requirements to claim half of the pot as detailed below.

For a low hand to qualify:

The low hand must contain five unpaired cards of 8’s or lower (down to an Ace), for example, 2-4-5-6-8. An Ace counts as the lowest card for a low hand (but still follows standard rules for High hands). A player must use exactly two of their hole cards with three cards from the board. A player may use the same hole card(s) to make their best low hand and High hand. Straights and flushes do not disqualify a low hand. If there is no qualifying low hand at the showdown, the entire pot is awarded to the high hand.

Ranking of Low Hands
To determine the best low hand at the showdown, the highest card of each players five lowest cards are looked at first. For example, if Player A has 3-4-5-6-7, against Player B’s A-2-3-4-8, Player A has the winning low hand with a Seven high, against Player B’s Eight high. The strongest Low hand is a five high of A-2-3-4-5, known as ‘The Wheel’, which also counts as a straight for a possible winning high hand.

Betting Sequence

Small blind and big blinds are posted by the two players to the left of the button. Initial deal of four cards dealt face down to each player.

First betting round. Three community cards are dealt face up in the centre of the table. These are known as the flop.

Second betting round. A fourth community card is dealt face up in the centre of the table, known as the turn card.

Third betting round. A fifth and final community card is dealt face up in the centre of the table, known as the river card.

Fourth and final betting round. Showdown to claim the winning hand.

General Facts

A starting hand which does not contain two cards ranked lower than a Nine, cannot possibly make a qualifying low hand.

The board must contain three cards lower than a Nine for there to be any possibility of a qualifying low hand.

If the flop does not have at least one card below a Nine, there cannot possibly be a low hand, regardless of which cards come on the turn and river, therefore the hand will be awarded to the high hand only.

Example flops of K-Q-J or T-9-9, will not result in a low hand.

General Hi-Lo Terminology

Counterfeiting occurs when a player’s hand is weakened as a result of a community card that duplicates one of the player’s hole cards.

This is more likely to occur at the low end in Omaha Hi/Lo, for example, a player with hole cards of A-2-K-J and a flop of 5-6-8, has the best possible low hand on the flop with A-2-5-6-8.

If the turn card brings an Ace (or a Two), the player no longer has the best possible low hand as another player holding 2-3 as part of their hand would have a better low hand of A-2-3-5-6.

Double Suited refers to a starting hand with two sets of suited cards, for example, Ah-4h-Ks-3s.

Quartering occurs when two players tie for the best low or high hand (more commonly the low). This occurs most frequently when two players have Ace-Two in their hand and are aiming to win the low half of the pot.

Scooping refers to occasions when one player wins the whole pot from having both the best high and the best low hand.

Steel Wheel is the strongest possible Omaha Hi/Lo hand of A-2-3-4-5 of the same suit (a Five high straight flush).

The Wheel is the best possible low hand of A-2-3-4-5, which also counts as a straight.

Seven Card Stud

| Game rules

This game demands strategy and skill and it takes a lot of play to develop the winner's edge. Top caliber players are few and far between but they have one thing in common with the rookies: every player of the game is still learning, even the masters.  There are cash tables available as well as a number of free to play tables in order for you to get some practice.

To give you an idea of the game and how it’s played, let's begin with the basic rules:

Betting Limits
Stud games are defined by their betting limits. The low stakes games start from as little as $0.10-$0.20 while the higher games are typically $5-$10 or $10-$20. The game’s betting limits tell the Stud player pretty much everything they need to know about the nature of the game, the expectations of the players, and the size of the bankroll you should have before you sit in.

Buy-In and Bankroll
Your minimum buy-in is typically 10-times the low limit, or $20 for a $2-$4 game. But playing with the minimum is not recommended as you may find yourself short-stacked a bit quickly!

Choosing your Game
Anything above the $5-$10 level is generally considered a well practiced players game. The skill and strategy levels required in the higher games are substantial and such games generally do not provide a relaxing environment for the Stud player still learning their way around. For that reason, you should start off on the practice tables and low-limit games to find your feet!

The Ante
An Ante (fixed bet) in Stud is mandatory and changes depending on the betting limits. Most games usually require a 10% Ante, so a $5-$10 game will have a $0.50 Ante.

Dealing
Using a $10-$20 game as an example, the Ante is $1 (10% of the low limit). The dealer deals clockwise starting on their immediate left. They deal one card at a time around the table until each player has two pocket cards (face down) and a single up (the "door" card). At this point the dealer indicates which player will open the betting, determined by the lowest door card. If there's a tie for low door, suit resolves it: spades over hearts, followed by diamonds, and finally clubs is the lowest.

Betting
Once the initial cards have been dealt, the game begins. At this point we've got three cards on the table per player and that's called " Third Street " (Remember, Stud poker is an American game and the terminology used is often in the language of the creators).

Third Street
The player holding the lowest door card must "bring it in" by opening with a bet that is usually equal to three times the ante ($3 in our example game). If the low door player doesn't make this bet, they're forced to ‘Fold’ and the opener passes to the player on their left.

The next player clockwise from the opener can ‘Call’ by matching the opener, ‘Raise’ by betting the low betting limit ($10) or ‘Fold’. Throughout Third Street all ‘Bets’ and ‘Raises’ are fixed at the low betting limit ($10).

Fourth Street
The dealer gives each player another open (up) card. Unlike Third Street , the opener in the fourth and remaining streets is the high hand as determined by the open cards. They may ‘Check’ (Pass) or ‘Bet’. It they ‘Bet’ it will be at the low limit ($10) and that fixes all raises in this round to the same.

If the high hand is an open pair, the opener can ‘Bet’ at the upper limit ($20) and this fixes all raises in the round to the same.

Fifth and Sixth Street
Again, the card is dealt up and high hand opens. All ‘Bets’ and ‘Raises’ are at the upper limit ($20 in this example).

Seventh Street
The last card, called the ‘river’, is another pocket card (face down). All ‘Bets’ and ‘Raises’ are at the high limit ($20).

Showdown
After the ‘Bets’ and ‘Raises’ have been resolved, the remaining players enter a showdown. The opener reveals his pocket cards. If a player wishes to compete with this hand they too reveal their pocket cards, or they can yield and muck out (Fold).

At the casino it's the dealer's responsibility to call the winner, as determined by the best 5-card hand under normal poker rules. However, in online games the software will designate the winner and the pot will be passed to them.

Conclusion
Although true with all poker games, with Seven Card Stud the rules are barely the beginning. It's the strategy and gaming skills that make the game and you’ll pick these up when you start practicing on our free to play stud tables.