The Rules of Poker

Texas Hold'em

Texas Holdem online poker the deck of cards is first shuffled using a random number generator (RNG) before each new  poker hand. (There are no Jokers in Poker.) A small disk known as the Dealer Button is located near to one of the players indicating the player who's turn it is to be the dealer. This disc moves round the poker table after each poker hand so that each player has an equal number of poker hands in the early position, middle position and late position during the game. Betting is done in four rounds

The First Round of Betting for Hold'em Online Poker

The betting is started before any cards are dealt by the player to the left of the dealer for the hand so that the betting is done in clockwise rotation. This  bet is called the ''small blind'' and is equal to half the lower ''stake limit''.

You will notice on the online poker sites that each game has cash amounts allocated to them for example $10/$20, this is called the ''stake limit''. The lower stake limit is $10 in this example so the small blind is half the lower stake limit - $5.

The next player posts a bet called the ''big blind'' equal to the lower stake limit and therefore twice the size of the small blind in this case they would bet $10.

Each player is now dealt two cards each, face down so that only they can see what they are, (these are the ''hole cards'').

The players look at their cards and betting resumes with the player to the left of the one who posted the big blind at the lower stake level of $10.

They have the choices to fold (and take no further part in the hand), place a bet, call or raise. To call is to match the previous bet,  to raise is match the previous bet and place another bet. Each successive  player must at least match the previous bet i.e. to call the player. In our example the first player to act in this round may bet $10 and the following player could call by also placing $10 in the pot or raise by placing $20 in the pot.

The betting continues until all the players have put the same amount in the pot. There is a limit on the amount that can be bet and the number of bets a player can place in a round of betting (four in limit games).

The first round of betting ends with three ''community cards'' being dealt face up for all to see, this is called the flop.

The Second Round of Betting in Hold'em Online Poker

Following the flop the first player to the left of the dealer button is the first to act. The value of bets and raises are limited to the lower stake limit ($10) in this round. The first player can either bet or check (remain in the game but not place a bet). Once a player has placed a bet all subsequent players can either call or raise.

The second round ends with the dealing face up of the fourth community card known as the ''Turn''.

The Third Round of Betting of Hold'em Online Poker

The betting starts again with the first player still in the game sat to the left of the dealer and their button. Betting is now set at the upper limit of the stake limits ($20 in our example). A single bet is therefore $20 and a raised $40, made up of a call on the $20 bet and an additional $20 raised bet. A player's options are therefore to bet, call or raise depending on the previous player's act.

The third round ends with the dealing face up of the fifth and last community card known as the ''River''.

The Fourth Round of Betting in Hold'em Online Poker

The fourth and final round of betting begins with the first player still in the game sat to the dealers left. The betting is set to the upper limit of the stakes limit ($20 in our example of a $10/$20 game). Again a player may bet, call or raise depending on the action taken by the previous player.

After all the bets have been made the remaining players put their cards on the table and the highest ranking hand wins the pot. 

As mentioned earlier there is a limit on the bets per betting round to four bets. A player can either : 1) bet, 2) raise, 3) re-raise, 4) cap. This type of poker is called Limit Hold'em.

In No Limit Hold'em Poker and Pot-Limit Hold'em Poker there are no limits on the number of raises that a player can make with the proviso that they cannot raise themselves. In other words if a player raises when it is their turn to act and the betting goes on round the table and back with all the other players making calls but not raising  further when it is the turn of player who raised to act, they cannot raise again they may only call.

The Betting Structure for No-Limit Hold'em Poker

The raise must be at least as much as the bet placed by the preceding player whether it was a call or a raise, so if the preceding player posted $100 as a bet the following player must post $100 to call and $100 to raise, making $200 in total

The maximum raise is the size of the players stack (pile of chips).

The Betting Rules for Pot-Limit Hold'em Poker

Again the raise amount must be at least equal to the previous player's bet so that together with the amount required to call the total bet posted will be double the previous bet. If the previous player posts $100 the second will need to post $200 to call and raise. The maximum raise is the size of the pot plus any bets on the table including the amount required of the acting player to call the previous player.

As an example if the active pot were $200 and player one bet $150, the second calls with $150, the third has a maximum eligible bet of $800. This is made up of the initial $200 plus $150 from each of the first two players making $500 plus $150 for the third player to call making $650. $650 is the maximum that can be raised so together with the call amount of $150 the total bet would be $800.

The Rake

Online poker rooms like all cardrooms and casinos stay in business by taking a small percentage of the winning pot this is called the ''rake''. It varies between 10% on a small pot of a few pounds in game with just a few players to 2.5% on a large pot in a game with more players.

Poker is a relatively simple game once it fully understood but it is advisable to practice on the free tables and read other versions of the rules to fully understand which ever type of poker you like best before gambling for real, who knows one day you may be ready for the World Poker Tour!