Poker
BASICS ABOUT ONLINE POKER GAMES
Poker is usually played with a standard deck of 52 cards, although some variant games use multiple decks or add Jokers or wild cards.
Poker is a five card game. Though there are many variations of the basic game, only five cards make a poker hand. The hands are ranked from best to worst. In case of a tie, one has to look at all five cards for the tie-breaker. The rules of poker are otherwise simple to learn and assimilate.
The cards are ranked in descending order starting from the highest; Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. An Ace can be high or low. There are four suits; spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs, but no suit is ranked higher than another. Each player has to make a five card “hand”. The highest ranking hand wins the game. In some games there are Wild Cards or Jokers, which can be ranked the way the player holding the card wishes to.
For professional players, online poker means learning a new set of basic skills. Finding a game, sitting down, buying chips and finally, seeing your cards to bet, raise or fold is all new.
There are different things to do like when you lose your internet connection in the middle of a hand and special rules of online etiquette.
How to play
- The first thing you see when you open the poker client is the "lobby". It shows you what tables are active and has details about each table, such as the stakes, the game being played and the number of players already seated.
- If there isn't a seat available in the game you want, you can join the wait list for that game. When your seat is ready, a dialog box will pop up asking you if you still want to play there.
- Once you have found a table and opened it up in a window, see if there is an open seat.
- When you sit down, the dealer will ask you how many chips you want to put on the table.
- Posting, or waiting for the blind - In Hold’em, players take turns paying the blinds.
- When you post the blind, if the action is un-raised when it reaches you again, you will not need to bet any more chips to stay in the hand.
- Once you are dealt in, your own cards will be displayed in front of your seat for only you to see, while the other players' cards will be displayed face-down in front of their seats. This allows you to see who is dealt in. On folding, a player’s cards disappear. One needs to remember who was dealt out, and who dealt in and folded, just like in face-to-face poker.
- In Hold’em, the dealer places the community cards, or board cards, face up in the middle of the table.
- When it's your turn to bet, buttons appear marked “Fold”, “Check”, “Bet”, “Call”, “Raise”, and so on.
- Online poker also permits you to make an “advance action” before it is your turn to act.
- The dealer manages the showdown.
- When all the cards have been shown, the dealer awards the pot according to the rules of the game.