Online Poker
Guide of Gamblers
Rules
While there are many different types and styles of
poker, when you know the rules of poker, you are referring to a
standard set of guidelines and commonalities between variations.
First of all Poker uses a standard deck of 52 playing cards (for most
variations). Cards are ranked in a systematic fashion. 2 is the lowest
card, Ace is the highest. The deck is split into four suits, no suit
is of more value than another. A poker hand contains five cards. The
highest hand at the table wins. Some variations utilize wild cards,
but to gain a proper sense of the game, you should learn the hand
ranks as they exist without the possibility of wild cards first.
The number of cards you are dealt depends on the variation of poker
you're playing. Again, to stick with the basics five cards is most
common.
Betting-In most poker games you start the betting
with an ante just to get the cards dealt. The ante is dependent upon
who you are playing with, a friendly game would usually have an ante
of a penny, nickle, or dime, I personally like a nickle ante when
playing with friends. The money is put in the center of the table and
is called the pot. At the end of a hand the highest hand, of the
players that remain (some may have folded), wins the pot.
You have three choices when the betting gets to you (betting is
handled in a clockwise order) and here they are:
Call-betting enough to match what has been bet since the lasttime you
bet. An example would be if you bet 25 cents and somebody than bid 35
cents when to you you would owe 10 cents . If you Call than you would
put the amount that you owed into the pot and you would stay in the
hand.
Raise-when you raise you first put enough in the pot to match what has
already been bet and then you would raise the pot by putting an
additional amount in (a friendly game would usually have a limit to
how much money you could raise). So lets say the initial bet was 25
cents, you would have to put in 25 cents and than say I'll raise you
another 25 cents. Now the other players will either Call, Raise, or
fold.
Fold-dropping out of the current hand and losing the possibility of
winning the pot. You don't have to put money in and you would only
lose the ante, if its on the first turn, or whatever you put in the
pot later. As the Kenny Rodgers song says, "you gotta know when to
fold them." Sometimes it is just better to get out then waste good
money on bad cards.
Betting is always dependent on the people you are playing with and the
rules that they prescribe. Games beween friends should always have low
limits set on the ante, the amount you could raise, and the top amount
the pot could grow to. These rules are best because winning a big pot
is never worth losing a friend over. So set the ante at a nickle, the
raises at a quater, and don't let the pot go over a few dollars. This
is the best way to handle a friendly game.
Some common rules:
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All games shall be played according to table
stakes rules |
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The conditions of contest assumed to be in effect
at the beginning of a deal may not be changed during that deal if
any player can be injured by that change. |
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Play must always proceed clockwise, with each
player's turn to act following the person on his immediate right.
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A player is responsible for taking reasonable
means to protect his hand. |
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Each card dealt must be the top card of the deck.
After the initial card of a round has been dealt to a player, each
player must receive his card directly after the person on his
immediate right. |
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The bottom card of the deck is never to be dealt.
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A misdeal shall cause all the cards to be
returned to the dealer for a redeal. |
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A player may bet a smaller amount on a betting
round than was bet on a previous round. |
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A player is never obliged to drop out of
contention because he has insufficient funds in play to call the
full amount of a bet. |
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Any player may raise the pot at his turn unless:
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The previous wager is below the minimum size
necessary to qualify for reopening the betting to him. |
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The betting has been "capped" because the
maximum number of raises on a betting round has been reached. |
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A "ceiling figure" has been reached. A ceiling
figure is a restriction on the size of the total bet on a
particular betting round. |
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A player has the right to act on his hand, and an
obligation to notify the other players that he has not yet acted
when the betting action bypasses him. |
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The dealer shall burn a card (place it facedown
on the table) before dealing any round of cards after the players
have received their starting hands. |
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A player is not allowed to put chips into the pot
knowing any of the cards that are to be dealt for the next round,
except for the final downcard at Stud, where the card must be kept.
A player is never allowed to control whether an upcard is to remain
as dealt or the deck reshuffled. |
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A player facing a bet who announces a fold has a
dead hand. |
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A player who makes a bet that nobody calls wins
the pot. A player who makes a bet, and then incorrectly assumes
there are no live hands against him, and throws his hand away into
the discards, loses the pot, unless the hand is declared retrievable
by the floorperson. |
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An illegally small bet stands once there has been
substantial action behind it. The dealer counts as a player, and the
act of burning before dealing a card for the next round is treated
as accepting the bet. |
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A player who puts chips in the pot with the
apparent intention of calling a bet, and is found to have put in an
insufficient amount, may not withdraw the chips. He must put in
sufficient additional chips to call, even if the opponent has shown
down his hand. |
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A player has the right to assemble chips in front
of him before acting. A player has made a bet if he pushes assembled
chips forward and releases them, or releases chips into the pot at a
sufficient distance from him to make it obvious that he intends it
as a bet. |
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A player is not allowed to make a bet, gauge an
opponent's reaction, and then increase the amount of the bet. In
order to add additional chips to the original wager, he must
indicate at the time it is made that the bet is not yet complete.
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A player who bets a single chip larger than
required is assumed to have only called unless he announces a raise.
He may clarify his apparent call as a raise only if nobody behind
him has acted and he has not gained useful information about a hand
behind him. |
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A rule may be set for a game where a player is
required to either bet or fold; he is not allowed to check. |
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Check-and-raise is permitted in all games, unless
a specific notice to the contrary is posted for a particular game.
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The minimum betting unit is the smallest
denomination of chip that will be permitted in play for a game,
except for use in antes and blinds. |
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A foul hand is a dead hand and cannot win any
part of the pot. |
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A boxed card (improperly faced card) is treated
as a scrap of paper. |
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A joker improperly in the game shall constitute a
misdeal if substantial action has not occurred. |
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A defective deck is one that has two identical
cards (including two jokers when one is in use) or any cards of a
different-colored back. |
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A deck that is dropped by the dealer before the
deal is over, such as the dealer thinking no more cards are to be
dealt, shall have the top of the deck used if it can properly be
determined. |
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If betting is over, the players show their cards
to determine who has the best hand and wins the pot. |
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Side-pot winners should be determined before the
center pot, to hell prevent a player from discarding his hand
because some player onl: in for the center pot has him beaten. |
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Suits do not count in the ranking of hands at the
showdown. |
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In tournament play, deals and insurance are not
permitted. |
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At tournament play, one-winner games shall have
the pot divided as evenly as chips in play permit. |
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A player has the right to have the house
reposition a spectator in the playing area so that person cannot see
his holecards. |
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The house has the right to place a maximum time
limit for taking action on one's hand. |
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Once a player has been awarded a pot and taken it
in, no additional rake-off may be taken from it. |
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A decision of the floorperson is final. |
