How to Play Poker

Texas Hold’em Poker

The dealer shuffles a standard 52-card deck, and begins by dealing each player 2 cards. The deal is done by dealing each player 1 card in clockwise direction and then a second card.

Dealing starts at the first person on the dealers left and ends with the dealer receiving the last card.

(In casinos, the dealer never plays. A round disc — known as a “dealer button” — moves clockwise from player to player with each hand. The button marks which player would be the dealer if the deal were advanced from player to player as the game went along.)

Blinds and Antes

The difference between blinds and antes is that blinds are usually only posted by 2 players, with every player getting a turn to post blinds as the dealer button rotates. Antes on the other hand are posted by all players at the beginning of every hand. Sometimes in big Hold’em tournaments, blinds and antes are used simultaneously.

Most Texas Hold ‘Em Poker games start with the two players to the left of the dealer (the button) putting a predetermined amount of money into the pot before any cards are dealt, ensuring that there’s something to play for on every hand.

This is called “posting the blinds.” Most often, the “first blind” — the player to the left of the dealer — puts up half the minimum bet, and the “second blind” puts up the full minimum bet.

This is most commonly known as the small blind and the big blind. For example, small blind posts 50 and the big blind posts 100. These amounts can vary depending on the format you are playing.

In a tournament style format, the blinds go up every few minutes or so, for example, every 15 minutes the blinds go up by a small amout. This is all predetermined when structuring the tournament.

A basic structure could look something like this:

Each player starts with a stack of chips: 30 000 chips

Blind go up every 15 min

Level 1: small blind 50 / big blind 100
level 2: 100/200
level 3: 200/400
level 5: 300/600
level 6: 400/800
etc etc

You can continue raising the blinds in this manner and adjust the length of the levels to speed up or slow down the game, until you have a final winner. The winner is the player that collects all the chips in play.

Tournament chips don’t have a cash value and cannot be redeemed for cash. So it is possible for players to buy in for R200 each and receive a stack of 20 000 or 30 000 playing chips.

In a cash game structure, the blinds don’t increase. So if the blinds are R5/R10, then they will stay that way for the duration. This is because cash games don’t need to end or have a final winner. Players can cash out their chips for the value they represent.

Play Begins

Players post the blinds.

Each player is dealt two cards, face down. These are known as the “hole cards.”

Betting Begins

A round of betting takes place, beginning with the player to the left of the two who posted the blinds. Players can call, raise, or fold when it’s their turn to bet.

The Flop

After the first betting round, the dealer discards the top card of the deck. This is called burning the card and is done to ensure that no one accidentally saw the top card, and to help prevent cheating.

The dealer then flips the next three cards face up on the table. These cards are called the “flop.”

NOTE: Eventually, a total of five community cards will be placed face up on the table. Players can use any combination of the community cards and their own two hole cards to form the best possible five-card Poker hand.

After the flop, another round of betting takes place, beginning with the player to the left of the dealer (the button). During this and all future rounds of betting, players can check, call, raise, or fold when it’s their turn to bet.

Fourth Street

The dealer burns another card and plays one more face up onto the table. This, the fourth community card, is called the “turn” or “Fourth Street.”

The player to the left of the dealer (the button) begins the third round of betting.

Fifth Street

The dealer burns another card before placing the final face-up card on the table. This card is called the “river” or “Fifth Street.”

Final Betting and The Winner

Players can now use any combination of seven cards — the five community cards and the two hole cards known only to them — to form the best possible five-card Poker hand.

The fourth and final round of betting starts with the player to the left of the dealer (the button).

After the final betting round, all players who remain in the game reveal their hands. The player who made the initial bet or the player who made the last raise shows their hand first.

The player with the best hand wins.

Follow this link to WSOP official rules page!

Rules for Poker

You may also enjoy this article on Poker Strategy – CLICK HERE

HOW TO PLAY POT-LIMIT OMAHA HOLD’EM

Omaha Hold’em is a popular poker variation that is similar to Texas Hold’em.

Due to the number of cards dealt to each player, four, it is best played with 4 – 8 players, however up to 10 is possible.

The main difference is that in Omaha, each player is dealt four private cards face down, and must use two of them along with three community cards to make a five-card hand.

This game is most often played as a pot-limit game, meaning players are limited by the amount of money that is already in the pot, when betting.

Pot-limit Betting

For example, if there is 100 chips in the pot, a player may only bet a maximum of 100.

Should another player want to raise, they would need to call the bet first and add that to the pot, then raise any amount up to a maximum of the total value of the pot.

Example: After the flop, player A bets 100 into a pot of 100 (known as “betting the pot”), player B wants to raise against player A, he must first call 100 to make the pot 300 as his call must be included in the pot before the raise (100 in pot + 1st bet 100 + Call 100 = 300). Now player B can raise the pot which is 300, he may raise anything from 100 – 300 more, to the pot. He raises only 200 more.

The pot is now 500

Note: Player B must raise a minimum of the bet placed by A, which was 100. Standard betting practice.

Now player C just wants call, he would need to call 100 from A and the 200 from B, his call is 300.

Player D wishes to raise to “pot”, which means he is betting the maximum allowed, the entire pot.

So how much must player D put in? He needs call player A+B first, which was 300 and then calculate the pot amount which is 500 (A+B) + 300 C + 300 D = 1100.

So player D needs to place 1400 into the pot. This is his 300 call plus his pot raise of 1100.

The general rule of thumb is that to calculate a raise amount, you need to first make sure the call is made and included in the pot total, before raising.

Tip: During each betting round, keep all the bets placed in front of each player until you are satisfied all amounts are correct, then place them into the pot. It is permitted and advised that keep the pot neatly stacked, so that you can always quickly count it, and keep the game moving smooth and fast.

A fast game is a good game!

Here’s a brief overview of how to play Omaha Hold’em:

The game can be played with 2 to 10 players. Each player is dealt four private cards face down, which are called “hole cards”.
After the players receive their hole cards, there is a round of betting, starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
Then, three community cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. This is called the “flop”. Another round of betting occurs, starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
Next, a fourth community card is dealt face up, which is called the “turn”. Another round of betting occurs, starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
Finally, a fifth community card is dealt face up, which is called the “river”. There is a final round of betting, starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
If two or more players remain in the game after the final round of betting, there is a showdown. The player with the best five-card hand using two of their hole cards and three community cards wins the pot.
In Omaha Hold’em, players must use two of their four hole cards and three community cards to make a hand. This can create more possibilities for strong hands, but it also means that players must be careful not to overvalue their hands.
The dealer position rotates clockwise after each hand, and the player to the left of the dealer is first to act in each betting round.

Omaha Hold’em is a challenging and exciting variation of poker that requires both skill and strategy.

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HOW TO PLAY 5 CARD DRAW POKER

5 Card Draw Poker

5 Card Draw is a classic poker game that is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. Here’s a brief overview of how to play 5 Card Draw:

The game can be played with 2 to 6 players. Each player is dealt five private cards face down.
After the players receive their cards, there is a round of betting, starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
Then, each player has the option to discard any number of their cards and receive new ones from the deck. The dealer will collect the discarded cards and give the player new ones in exchange. Players can exchange as many or as few cards as they want.
After the players have received their new cards, there is another round of betting, starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
If two or more players remain in the game after the final round of betting, there is a showdown. The player with the best five-card hand wins the pot.
In 5 Card Draw, players must use their five cards to make the best possible hand. The hand rankings are the same as in other poker games, with a royal flush being the best possible hand.
The dealer position rotates clockwise after each hand, and the player to the left of the dealer is first to act in each betting round.

5 Card Draw is a simple and straightforward poker game that is easy to learn, but it still requires skill and strategy to win.

HOW TO PLAY DEUCE-SEVEN POKER

There are 2 variations to this game, Single-draw and triple-draw.

In single-draw, players have only 1 option to draw more cards before show down, and is also the most popular version of the game.

Triple-draw allows for 3 draws and therefore more betting rounds, since you will bet after every draw.

Both games can be played as limit or no-limit games, however the limit versions will sharpen your bluffing skills and patience.

How to play Deuce-Seven Single-draw Poker

Deuce-to-Seven (also known as Kansas City Lowball) is a poker game that is played using a standard 52-card deck. Unlike other popular poker games like Texas Hold’em or Omaha, in Deuce-to-Seven, the objective is to have the lowest-ranking hand at the showdown. Here’s a brief overview of how to play Deuce-to-Seven:

The game can be played with 2 to 8 players. Each player is dealt five cards face down, and the dealer rotates clockwise after each hand.
After the players receive their cards, a round of betting occurs. The player to the left of the dealer is first to act, and then the betting continues in a clockwise direction.
After the first round of betting, each player can choose to discard and replace any number of their cards (even all five if they wish) in exchange for new cards from the deck. The goal is to improve their hand and have the lowest-ranking hand at the showdown. This is known as a draw.
After the players receive their new cards, another round of betting occurs.
Finally, there is a showdown, and the player with the lowest-ranking five-card hand wins the pot. The best possible hand is 2-3-4-5-7, which is why the game is called Deuce-to-Seven.
It’s important to note that flushes and straights count against you in this game, meaning that a hand like 2-3-4-5-6 is not a good hand, but a hand like 7-5-4-3-2 is a good hand.
If two or more players have the same low hand, the pot is split between them equally.

Triple Draw Poker Variant

The rules remain the same as with single-draw, however there are three draws and therefore 4 betting rounds. 1 betting round after the deal, followed by betting after every draw and then show down.

Strategy Tip:

In either of the variations, should you require to draw more than 2 cards at any draw, it would be advisable to fold entirely. Drawing more cards will only increase the odds of drawing high cards or pairing with cards in your hand.

Deuce-Seven is game of skill and it can very difficult to bluff. It requires patience and technique to pull off a bluff.

HOW TO PLAY POKER – 7 CARD STUD POKER

7 Card Stud Poker

7 Card Stud is a classic poker game that is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. Here’s a brief overview of how to play 7 Card Stud:

The game can be played with 2 to 8 players. Each player is dealt two private cards face down, which are called “hole cards”, and one card face up, which is called the “door card”.
The player with the lowest door card must bring in a forced bet, which is usually half of the lower betting limit. If there are two or more players with the same low card, the player closest to the dealer’s left must bring in the bet.
After the bring-in bet, there is a round of betting, starting with the player to the left of the bring-in. The betting limit is typically the lower limit for the first two rounds, and then the higher limit for the last three rounds.
Then, another card is dealt face up to each player. This is called the “fourth street”. There is another round of betting, starting with the player who has the highest hand showing.
This process is repeated two more times, with each player receiving another face up card each time. The fifth card is called the “fifth street”, the sixth card is called the “sixth street”, and the seventh and final card is called the “river”.
After the final betting round, there is a showdown. The player with the best five-card hand using any combination of their seven cards wins the pot.
In 7 Card Stud, there are different hand rankings to determine the winner of the game. The best possible hand is a royal flush, which consists of the Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 of the same suit.
The dealer position rotates clockwise after each hand, and the player to the left of the dealer is first to act in each betting round.