How to play......
Texas Hold'em
Probably the most popular online poker game played at the moment Texas Hold’em is a community card game with each player being dealt two cards and combining these with the five face up ‘community’ cards on the table to create the highest hand
Starting from the left of the Dealer Button the player place the small blind which is half the bet amount of the big blind. The player on his left the places the big blind which is the lower amount in a limit game e.g. $10/$20 Limit Hold’em game, then, starting with the small blind each player is dealt two cards face down however the betting action begins with the player to the left of the big blind. Call, fold or raise are your options here, to throw away your cards you Fold, to put in the same amount as the big blind you would Call and to raise your hand you would bet twice the big blind.
Once all betting has finished the dealer deals 3 cards face up on the table, this is the flop. After another round of betting another card is dealt again face up, this is known as the turn. After another betting round the final card is dealt called ‘the river’ this is again followed by the final round of bets. To win you need to make the best hand possible from any combination of the 7 cards you can see. (See poker hands section)
Omaha
Almost the same as Texas Hold’em the main difference being you are dealt 4 cards instead of 2 and make your best hand from the 9 available cards you can see and must include two of the four cards from your dealt hand.
Omaha Hi/Lo
Played the same as Omaha except at the end the pot is split between the best qualifying hand and the best qualifying low hand which is a hand of 5 different value cards which must be 8 or lower e.g. A3578. Flushes or straights are not counted in the ‘low’ hand.
7 CARD STUD
There are several differences between 7 Stud and Texas Hold'em
7 Card Stud has five betting rounds instead of four as in Texas Hold'em and Omaha. The game is played with an ante instead of blinds. In Stud there are no community cards. The player's hands decide the order of action. On the first round of betting the player with the lowest card has to make a bring-in bet and on the later betting rounds the player with the best hand showing has to act first.
All players receive two cards dealt face down (hole cards) and one card dealt face up (up card). The cards are dealt one at a time.
The player with the lowest up card has to make a bring-in bet.
The betting continues clockwise with the player to the left of the bring-in.
A fourth card is dealt face up. The action begins by the player with the best up cards and continues clockwise.
A fifth card is dealt face up. The action begins by the player with the best up cards and continues clockwise.
A sixth card is dealt face up. The action begins by the player with the best up cards and continues clockwise.
A seventh card is dealt face down. The action begins by the player with the best up cards and continues clockwise.
All players make out the best possible 5-card poker hand.