How to play Texas Hold’em

Texas Hold’Em is a poker game in which each player receives 2 cards (hole cards) dealt face down, while 5 cards (community cards) are dealt face up on the table. All players play with their best 5 cards in any combination of their 2 down cards and the 5 common cards on the table. The best five-card poker hand wins.

Players usually use one or both of their hole cards to make their best hand. However, this is not required. A player may even choose to play just the community cards and use no hole cards at all. Identical five-card hands split the pot; the sixth and seventh cards are not used to break ties.

Standard Rules

Betting Rounds
A disk called the button marks the dealer in Texas Hold ’Em.

For each hand, the button rotates to the left. Players are identified by their seat position. The dealer is seat one, the player to the dealer’s left is seat two and so on, clockwise around the table to the player on the dealer’s right, which is typically seat nine providing the table is full.

In practice, Texas Hold ’Em has a fixed (house) dealer and the button rotates around the table simply to mark the rotation of the theoretical dealer.

Texas Hold ’Em uses two forced bets, the blinds, to get bets on the table right from the beginning of the game. Before the cards dealt, the first two players to the left of the dealer position are required to post blind bets. Blinds are real bets and to enter the pot, a player in the blind position needs only to make up the difference, if any, between their blind and the current bet. In addition, players in the blinds have the option of raising when the betting round comes back to them, even if there has not been a previous raise. A small blind is half of the lower limit of the table limit and a big blind is the full value of the lower limit of the table limit.

The deal rotates clockwise around the table beginning with the player to the big blind’s left. Each player is dealt their first “pocket” card in turn and then their second “pocket” or “hole” card is dealt. Once the blinds have opened with their forced bets, the player to the big blind’s left, bets first. This player can call by matching the big blind or raise. The betting round continues around the table. The next 3 cards are then dealt and called “flop cards”. These cards are community cards and used by all players in the hand. The betting round continues around the table. The 4th card for the table, the “turn card”, is dealt. The betting round continues around the table. The final card is called the “river card”. The betting round continues around the table. The “turn” and “river” cards are also community cards used by all players in the hand. When all bets are completed, the showdown takes place between remaining players, where the winner is declared. A player uses his best five cards from his pocket cards and the community cards to determine his hand, see Winning Hands. Identical five-card hands split the pot; the sixth and seventh cards are not used to break ties.

Check and Raise are allowed in all games. The maximum allowable wager is always indicated on the Bet prompt and the lowest allowable wager is the default in the Bet window. Our game imposes a maximum number of raises allowable raise during a betting round. Currently that limit is four (we assume a bet counts as one raise), and we reserve the right to change that number at any time.

Player Timeouts
Player Timeouts are a necessary part of online Poker; without them any given player could stall the game indefinitely. During a single hand of Poker, each player is given a reasonable number of seconds to bet. If time expires and the game server has not received a response from the active player, then the players hand will be folded. Timeouts are typically 20 to 30 seconds.

All-In
During a limit poker betting round, each player that wants to stay in the hand is required to call the previous bet. There are times, however, when a player may not have enough chips remaining at the table to call the previous bet. In addition, the player could have enough to call but not enough to raise the required amount. If the player does not have enough to call, they have two options; Fold or All-In. If the player has enough to call but not enough to raise, they have three options; Fold, Call or All-In. In either case, if the player decides to go All-In, they simply bet all of their remaining chips and from that point until the end of the hand the player is said to be “All-In”. The All-In player is allowed to finish the current hand and they simply sit and wait for the hand to end. A player who is All-In cannot be forced out of the pot, but can only win that portion of the pot that they are eligible for. A side pot for extra bets is created. See Side Pots for more explanation.

Side Pots
Normally at the end of each betting round in a game of Poker, all of the chips that each player has bet are moved to the center of the table and added to the pot. However this will not do when one or more players have gone All-In. Player (s) can go All-In when they do not have enough chips to call the previous bet and as a result it is necessary to use side pots in order equitably manage the process of distributing the correct amount of chips to the winner (s).

Players that have contributed to a given side pot are eligible to win that side pot. Players that have not contributed to a given side pot are not eligible to win that side pot.

Example Side Pot Calculation
At the end of the first round of betting in a Texas Hold ’Em game with ten players, there is $78 on the table and the amount bet by each player is as follows:

Al	$10	Fred	$10
Bob	$10	Greg	$10
Carl	$10	Hal	$5 (All-in)
Dan	$10	Hal	$2 (All-in)
Ed	$10	Ken	$1 (All-in)

Ken has the smallest All-in bet of $1

Deduct $1 from each bet and add it to the current pot

Now the table looks like this:

Al	$9	Fred	$9
Bob	$9	Greg	$9
Carl	$9	Hal	$4 (All-in)
Dan	$9	Hal	$1 (All-in)
Ed	$9	Ken	$0

Current pot: $0 (nobody)

There are two more All-in bets for $4 and 1$

Joe has the smallest All-in bet of $1

Deduct $1 from each bet and add it to the current pot

Now the table looks like this:

Al	$8	Fred	$8
Bob	$8	Greg	$8
Carl	$8	Hal	$3 (All-in)
Dan	$8	Hal	$0
Ed	$8	Ken	$0

Side pot B: $9 (everyone except Ken)

Current pot: $0 (nobody)

There is one more All-in bet of $3

Deduct $3 from each bet and add it to the current pot.

Now the table looks like this:

Al	$5	Fred	$5
Bob	$5	Greg	$5
Carl	$5	Hal	$0
Dan	$5	Hal	$0
Ed	$5	Ken	$0

Side pot B: $9 (everyone except Ken)

Side pot C: $24 (everyone except Joe and Ken)

Current pot: $0

There are no more All-in bets so just move the remaining bets to the current pot

Now the table looks like this:

Al	$0	Fred	$0
Bob	$0	Greg	$0
Carl	$0	Hal	$0
Dan	$0	Hal	$0
Ed	$0	Ken	$0

Side pot B: $9 (everyone except Ken)

Side pot C: $24 (everyone except Joe and Ken)

Current pot: $35 (everyone except Hal, Joe and Ken)

All $78 has been distributed correctly to each side pot

At the end of the hand, each side pot is won by the contributing player with the best hand. In the case of a tie, the side pot is split between the contributing winners.

Texas Hold ‘Em Interface

Join – Players are seated on a first come first serve basis. Once a table is selected, players can select “Join” at any time in order to be seated. Until “Join” is selected players will be listed on the waiting queue. Player can choose “Sit Down” to be seated in the next game.

Fold – Stops betting on this hand and forfeits your current bets.

Check – If a player does not raise and you do not want to raise, you can click check (pass) to the next player, if there is no bet on the table.

Bet – This button is available if you are the first person to bet in the round.

Fold/Check – This button changes between Fold and Check depending on the circumstance.

Call/Check – This button changes between Call and Check depending on the circumstance.

Bet/Raise – This button is available if you are the first person to bet in the round or if you want to raise the current bet amount.

Call – Use Call to match the current bet of other players. As an example, “Call (3)” means you are matching the bet that is 3 dollars.

Raise – This button is available if someone has already entered a bet and you want to raise the current bet amount.

Auto-Post Blinds – Automatically places any blind bet for a player.

Muck Losing Hands – Automatically discards losing hands for a player without displaying the hole cards to the other players.

Sit Out/Play – This button toggles between Sit Out and Play depending on the circumstance.

Sit Out – Select this button to sit out without losing your seat. If you want to sit out, simply select the Sit Out button on the screen. To return, toggle the Sit Out/Play button. Sit Out does not take effect until the end of the game. Once the game ends, then you are placed in the Sit Out mode.
Play – Toggle the Sit Out/Play button to begin play again after sitting out.

Transfer – When you click a seat to Sit Down, you are prompted with a Transfer Window. The current amount displayed is your casino balance. If you wish to take a smaller amount to Texas Hold ‘Em, simply change the “I wish to transfer” amount with the desired amount and click Transfer.

Bank (on transfer window) – Brings you to the Cashier

Texas Hold ‘Em Dealer – To start a hand, the cards are dealt in a clockwise direction from the dealer button. Each time the cards are dealt, a new betting round begins. A hand starts when the first card is dealt and ends when a winner is declared.

Dealer Button – The white disc that moves from player to player at the beginning of each hand is called the dealer button. It identifies the current dealer position as if that player were actually dealing the cards. The player at this location is considered to be “on the button”. After each completed hand, the dealer button is moved one player to the left of the last player.

Blind – The small blind is a forced ante made by the player to the immediate left of the dealer button when facing the table. The big blind is a forced ante made by the player to the immediate left of the small blind.

Small Blind – In our Hold ‘Em game, the small blind is a bet/ante equal to one half the minimum bet, (Ex. $3-$6 game, small blind = $1).

Big Blind – In our Hold ‘Em game, the big blind is a bet/ante equal to the minimum bet. (i.e. $3-$6 game, big blind = $3)

Pocket Deal – After the blinds bet, the dealer deals two cards (pocket or hole cards) to each player at which time each player can see their own cards but not those of their opponents.

Exit – If you select Exit after a round has started, your bet will be considered a fold.

Lost Connection – If your connection is lost, your hand and bet will be considered a fold.

Option – The players that bet blind are given the option to raise, check, call or fold when it is their turn. Once the betting is completed for the round the dealer deals the flop.

Flop – After the first betting round, three community cards, referred to as the flop, are dealt.

Raise/Call/Check/Fold – Once a betting round has started you must select one of these options.

Turn Card – The fourth community card dealt is called the turn card. 32

River Card – The last card of the five community cards dealt is called the river card.

Showdown – When all the betting is done, and if more than one player is still in for the pot, then the showdown determines who wins. The last player to open or raise is required to show their cards first, and anyone else can fold / muck their cards if they decide they have lost. Players who elect to fold do not have to show their cards. (The hole cards of all players who stay in to the showdown are included in the hand history.)

Winning Hands

Royal Flush – This is a straight flush with an Ace as the high card.

Straight Flush – A straight with all five cards of the same suit, which does not include an Ace

Four of a Kind – Four cards of the same rank, i.e. 4 Aces

Full House – Any three cards of one rank plus any two cards of another rank makes a full house.

Flush – Five cards of the same suit.

Straight – A hand with five consecutive cards like 2,3,4,5,6. An Ace can be high or low. When you compare two players with a straight, the straight with the highest card in it wins.

Three of a Kind – Three cards of the same rank.

Two Pair – Any two cards of one rank plus two cards of another rank.

Pair – Two cards of the same rank.

Highest Card – If there is nothing better, the highest card wins. If there is more than one player with the same hand, the five highest cards that play is the winning hand.

Here are some examples: If two players have a similar high flush, the highest card not being held in common wins, i.e.: a 9,7,5,3,2 flush beats a 9,6,5,3,2 flush. If the highest hand is the board (i.e. the community hand on the table), then the players that have not folded split the pot. If player one is playing an Ace-Jack, and player two is playing an Ace-10, and the board cards come Ace, two, two, five, six, both players have two pair but player one would win because he has a better “kicker”. The “kicker” is the highest hand unpaired card that plays and adds to the strength of your hand.

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