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Basic Poker Rules |
There are many variations of poker, most of them played with a standard
deck of 52 cards.
Poker games involve rounds of betting into a common ‘pot’ and
rounds of replacing or receiving cards. The number of betting rounds
and card draws depends on the particular variation of the game you are
playing and each betting round ends when all players have contributed
to the pot equally.
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Game Play |
There are two different types of game play in poker: "Ring Games" and "Tournaments".
A ring game is a poker game that is confined to a single table. At any
time between hands players may freely sit down and cash out at any time.
Players can come and go as they please and sit out when they need to
take a short break. Beginners tend to start by playing ring games, and
then progress to tournaments later.
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Choosing your game: Betting Structures and Table Limits |
You'll probably already have a good idea of what style of poker you
want to play.
Any ring game or tournament can use any betting structure, applied to
any style of poker. For example you could play a "$2/$4 Fixed Limit
Texas Hold'em Ring Game" for a while before joining a "$10/$20
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament".
There are three
types of betting structure:
• Fixed Limit
In Fixed Limit poker there can be one bet and three raises maximum in
each round of betting. During the first two rounds of betting the lower
limit is used to start the betting and the higher limit is used for
the second two rounds. The raise can only be the size of the previous
bet or the previous raise.
• Pot Limit
Pot limit poker is similar to Fixed Limit with one bet and three raises
maximum in each round of betting. The minimum raise is the size of
the previous bet or the previous raise. The maximum allowable raise
is the size of the pot. The size of the pot is calculated as the pot
plus all the bets on the table for that round plus the amount the player
must call for the current bet.
• No Limit
In No Limit poker the method of play is the same as pot limit, however
there is no maximum number of raises for each round of betting. The
minimum raise is the size of the previous bet or the previous raise.
The maximum allowable raise is all of your chips.
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Choosing your game: Blinds and Antes |
To make sure that there's always money in the pot for each hand of
poker, the table limits dictate a compulsory bet made by some or all
of the players at the table before anyone has even seen their cards.
These are called "Blinds" and "Antes".
• Blinds
Blinds are a compulsory bet placed in the pot to start the betting and
to give players an incentive to enter the hand. You'll see this in
Hold'em, Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo style games. It also means that the
winner of the hand will always collect a pot rather than nothing at
all. Before the first cards are dealt, the player immediately to the
left of the dealer button must post the "small blind". The
player to the left of the small blind must post the "big blind".
The small blind is usually equal to half the minimum bet. The big blind
is equal the minimum bet. So in a fixed limit game a $1 small blind,
$2 big blind would be described as a $2/$4 game and in pot limit and
no limit games a $1 small blind, $2 big blind would be described as
a $1/$2 game.
• Antes
Before the beginning of a 7 Card Stud game, every player must place an
'ante', a compulsory small bet similar to the "blinds" found
in Hold'em, Omaha or Omaha Hi/Lo. Their size is dictated by the table
limits, e.g. on a $5/$10 table, there is an ante of 50c. Likewise,
on a $10/$20 table, the ante would be $1.
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Your choices: Bet, Check, Raise, Call or Fold? |
Depending on the situation, you'll have a choice of at least two actions
when it's your turn.
• Bet
To put chips into the pot indicating the confidence you have in your
hand. The more you bet the more the other players will have to risk
in order to stay in the game.
• Check
If the betting comes around to your turn and there have been no bets
or raises, you have the choice to check, taking no more action. If another
player has bet or raised, you do not have the option to check, if you
wish to stay in the hand you must "Call" or make an even larger
bet ("Raise") to stay in.
• Raise
Increase the previous bet made, meaning your opponents will have to "Call" your
bet to stay in the hand or "Fold".
• Call
Match the previous bet and stay in the hand.
• Fold
Decide that your cards are not good enough to continue, discard your
hand and not take part in the current hand or the current pot. |
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