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| Learn the rules of the most popular forms of poker - Texas Hold'em, Omaha and 7-Card-Stud before you hit the online card rooms to give you a heads-up on the competition. |
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| Poker Rules |
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Omaha Rules
Omaha is played in many forms and is related to Texas Hold'em but with a bit more action providing four hole cards instead of two. |
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7-Card-Stud Rules
With three cards down and four cards exposed at the end of a hand, this game combines surprises from Draw poker with the strategy of four open cards. |
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| Texas Hold'em Rules |
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Texas Hold'em is an exciting form of poker which has just exploded in the last few years to
become the most popular form of poker in North America. As the saying goes "It takes a mintue to learn and a lifetime to
master." In Hold'em you start off with two hole cards using the five community cards delt face up on the table to make your best
5 card poker hand. The action all stars with the Delar Chip. Also known as the button it determines the
order in which the cards are dealt (clockwise) around the table. At the end of each hand the button is moved clockwise to the next player, who then becomes
the dealer. |
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Before the cards are dealt the two players to the left of the button must pay a
table ante to force the action also know as "Blinds." The small blind is paid by the person sitting to the left of the dealer and is
always half of the big blind. The big blind is paid by the person who sits next to the small blind. Unless non of the players left to act raise the pot the
big blind is able to see the flop with out putting in any more chips. |
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After the blinds are paid two hole cards also know as pocket cards are then dealt out to
each player (the player sitting on the button always recieves the last card). At the end of the hand players use both, one or neither of their hole cards to make up the best
possible 5 cards. In some occasions your best hand will be on the board. |
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The person sitting to the left of the big blind is the fist to act after the cards are
dealt. That person must choose to either call the big blind, raise the pot or fold his hand sliding his cards face down to
the dealer. The player sitting on the button is the last player to act in each round for the remainder of the hand. If this player chooses
to fold the nearest player to their right now acts last. |
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Betting continues clockwise until all players have an equal amount of chips committed to the pot. |
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Three cards are then dealt out face up across the middle of the table. These are the first
three community cards used to make you final hand, also know as the flop. A round of betting then occurs again starting with the person
sitting left of the dealer. That person can fold, check (seeing another card for free), or bet. |
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When the second round of betting is complete than the fourth community card is placed on
the board. Another round of betting then occurs. This card is also known as the "Turn Card" or "Fourth Ftreet" and is the second last card to be exposed. |
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When the third round of betting is complete the fifth and final community card is
placed on the board. This card is also known as “The River” or “Fifth Street”. Once this card is exposed there is one final round of betting
again starting with the player left of the dealer. Once all bets have been placed the player to the left of the dealer is first to expose his
cards followed by the remaining players who must expose or muck their cards. The person with the best 5 card poker hand wins, in our exaple
Aces full of Kings beating 10s full of Aces. The pot is than push towards the winner unless it’s a draw. If two players have the same valued hand
than the pot is split equally. |
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| Omaha Rules |
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Omaha has the same rules as Texas Hold'em with two key differences.
When playing Omaha you get four starting cards instead of two. This provides for many more hand possibilities and
therefore more action. The second difference is how the community cards are played. In Texas Hold'em you can use three,
four or all five of the community cards to make your hand. In Omaha you must use two of your hole cards and three from
the community cards to make up your hand. |
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| 7 Card Stud Rules |
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At one time, this was the most popular of all casino poker games. It's one that practically everybody
knew how to play. Today, it shares the spotlight with Texas Hold'em and Omaha, but the number of Stud games in Las Vegas is still greater than either
Hold'em or Omaha. Heres a quick break down of 7 card stud action. After all players have anted each player is dealt two cards face down and one face up.
The player with the lowest up card makes a forced bet of either half the minimum bet or a full bet (player's choice) to start the game.
The rest of the players, in clockwise order, either call the opening bet, raise it, or not call and "fold" their hands back to the dealer.
All get a fourth card face up followed by a round of betting. From this round on, the player with the highest up card(s) is always first
to act. After the fifth card is dealt face up, the minimum bet doubles and stays that way for the following rounds. The sixth card is
dealt face up and there is another round of betting. The seventh and last card is dealt face down and followed by the final round of
betting. The dealer then determines the highest hand and awards the pot. |
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