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Holdem
Hold'em poker (also known as Texas Hold'em) is the most popular poker
game in the world. There are three types of Hold'em games:
• Limit Texas Holdem (there is a specific betting limit applied to each
game and on each round of betting)
• Pot Limit Texas Holdem (A player can bet what is in the pot)
• No Limit Texas Holdem (A player can bet all of his/her chips at any
time)
The Game:
Hold’em Poker uses what is called a dealer-button to indicate the
theoretical dealer of each hand. After each hand is completed, as with
standard poker rules, the button moves clockwise to the next active
player. This player will be considered “the dealer” for that hand.
Before the start of the game, the QQONLINEGAMES.com system will
internally generate a fresh deck of cards for the hand. On QQONLINEGAMES
.com, we use a single deck of cards to play a hand of poker, where a
deck refers to 52 cards excluding the jokers. Online poker rooms use
what is called the Random Number Generator (RNG) to shuffle a deck of
cards for the hand.
How does it work?
The system generates a random set of numbers, which are used to place a
card in a particular position in the deck. Once the completed deck is
created, the deck is used for that particular hand only. We shuffle the
deck of cards every time we start a hand; the random numbers previously
generated are discarded and new ones are generated before the shuffle.
The First round:
The first person sitting at a table becomes the dealer, and receives the
dealer ‘button’. A new game on an active table starts with the button
moving clockwise to the next player. The player next to the button /
dealer is required to place the small blind. The small blind is equal to
half the lower stake. This is a guideline for determining the blinds and
not a strict rule. At QQONLINEGAMES.com the small blind is rounded down
to the nearest dollar. For example – at $5/$10 Hold’em per the formula
the small blind should be $2.5. Instead, it is rounded of to the lower
dollar, so the small blind would post $2. However, as it is just a
guideline, the amount of small blind could be set differently at the
time of setting up the table.
The player to the left of the small blind is required to post the big
blind, equal to the lower stake limit. In a certain scenario it is
possible for more than one player to post a big blind in a hand. This is
if a new player joins a table at which a game is already going on. The
player would get an option of placing a Big Blind at the start of the
next hand or wait for his/her turn (as decided by the movement of the
button) when it is normally his/her time to place the Big Blind. All the
blinds in Hold’em poker are considered live bets and the players who
posted them will have the option of checking, calling, raising or
folding when the betting returns to their position.
After the blinds have been placed, the down cards / hole cards are dealt
to each active player. In Hold’em, 2 cards are dealt to each of the
players, after which the first betting round begins. The player to the
left of the player who placed the big blind starts the betting for this
round.
Each player will now have a chance to place his or her bets in the first
round, by putting forth an amount of chips equal to the lower limit of
the stakes structure. For example in a $10/$20 Hold’em game, the value
of each bet in the first round is $10. Bets being limited to $10 refers
to: a singe bet of $10 value; i.e. when a user places a “BET” it is $10,
a “RAISE” would be $20 (this includes one additional bet and a call on
the previous bet placed by a player).
Bets can be placed by playing any of the following options – Bet, Call
and Raise. Each player will also have the option to Fold. These options
are available to each player depending on the action taken by the
previous player. The first player (left of the Big Blind) to act (in the
first round) would get the Bet, Call and Raise options. Subsequent
players would also get the options of Call and Raise. To Call is to bet
the same as what the previous player has bet. A Raise action calls for
raising the bet/call amount laid by the previous player, and can be
calculated based on the value of the previous bet amount.
In order to participate in the hand every player must at least match the
amount of money put in the pot by previous players (includes bets, calls
and raises). There might be a limit on the amount and the number of bets
a player can place during a betting round, which also would be
considered during the hand. The numbers of bets for a particular round
of betting has been mentioned below, please refer to the section on
“Standard Rules” (below) for the limits on the number of bets.
After the first round of betting is over, the Flop (the first three
cards of the community) is dealt. The community cards are common to all
of the players participating in the hand.
The Second Round:
After the flop and in each subsequent betting round, the first active
player to the left of the button is first to act. The second betting
round also limits the value of bets and raises to the lower limit of the
stake structure. So in a $10/$20 value of each bet is $10 for the second
round. When we say the bets are limited to $10, it refers to a single
bet of the value of $10; so when a user places a “BET” then it is $10, a
“RAISE” would be $20 (including one additional bet and a call on the
previous bet placed by a player). Bets can be placed by playing any of
the following options – Bet, Call and Raise. These options are available
to each player depending on the action taken by the previous player. The
first player placing a bet would get the Bet option (the player left to
the Button). Other players will get the Call and Raise options only.
After this round of bets the fourth community card is dealt out – this
is known as the Turn.
The Third Round:
The third betting round starts with the player left of the button, and
bets and raises are limited to the upper limit of the stake structure
($10/$20 game, $20 would be the upper stake). When we say the bets are
limited to $20, it refers to: a single bet of the value of $20, so when
a user places a “BET” then it is $20, a “RAISE” would be $40 (including
one additional bet and a call on the previous bet placed by a player).
Bets can be placed by playing any of the following options – Bet, Call
and Raise. Combinations of these options are available to the player
depending on the action taken by the previous player. The first player
placing the bet (the player left to the Button) would get the Bet
option.
After this the fifth community card is dealt out – this is known as the
River.
The Fourth Round:
The fourth (and final) betting round starts again with the player left
of the button, and bets and raises are limited to the upper limit of the
stake structure ($10/$20 game, $20 would be the upper stake). When we
say the bets are limited to $20, it refers to a single bet of the value
of $20, so when a user places “BET” then it is $20, a “RAISE” would be
$40 (includes one additional bet and a call on the previous bet placed
by a player). Bets can be placed by playing any of the following options
– Bet, Call and Raise. Combinations of these options are available to
the player depending on the action taken by the previous player. The
first player placing a bet (the player left to the Button) would get the
Bet option.
Some standard rules
A maximum of four bets, which includes one bet and three raises, are
allowed for each betting round per player. The term cap is used to
describe the final raise in a round since betting is then capped and no
one can make another raise. Once capped, players will have the option of
calling or folding only. Folding can be done at any stage of the game.
The action of folding basically pushes the player cards to the dealer.
The player would not be considered as part of the game from then on.
He/she would not have any rights to any pots created on the table.
Apart from the fold option, a player could also get the option of
“Check”, in which the player can pass by his/her turn without placing a
bet. This option would not always be available to the player, and
depends on the actions taken by the previous player in the hand. The
player HAS TO equal the amount of the bet placed by any other players
for each round in the hand in order to maintain a stake in the pot.
Poker is typically played "table stakes", meaning only the chips in play
at the beginning of each hand may be used throughout the hand. This
means that a player cannot get additional funds from the cashier while
he is in the midst of a game. The table stakes rule has an application
called the "All-In" rule, which states that a player cannot be forced to
forfeit a hand because the player does not have enough chips to call a
bet.
Exceptions to the value of betting in each round:
A player who does not have enough chips to call a bet, but still wishes
to be involved in the hand, is declared All-In. The player is eligible
for the portion of the pot to the point of his final wager. All further
action involving other players takes place in a "side pot", which is
unavailable to the player who has gone All-In. When a player goes
All-in, the pot currently at the center of the table, which has
contributions from him/her as well, is treated as the main pot, over
which the All-in player has rights. After the player goes all-in, all
the new bets are placed in a side pot, over which only the contributing
players have rights. The All-in player does not have any rights over the
side pot. The side pot is then given to the next winning combination.
As this is a multi player game, the players are expected to play within
a set time frame, the actions during their turn. On QQONLINEGAMES.com we
provide players with approximately 30 seconds to play with. Initially
the player is given 10 seconds, after which there is a timer countdown,
which is displayed on the table for 20 seconds. The user goes all-in if
he has contributed some money to the pot; otherwise his hand is folded
in case he/she does not respond in time. The system is intelligent in
detecting if the player has been disconnected. This means if a player
gets disconnected and reconnects back and it is still his/her turn, then
he is given an additional 20 seconds to play his turn. If the player is
not able to connect back to the table before the time elapses, then the
player goes All-in. All-in basically means that the player is in the
game, but would not be an active player (placing any bets). Whatever pot
is collected till this time is referred as the main pot, and the all-in
player has rights (if he wins) to this pot only. After this the money
that is bet on the table is added to a side pot, over which the all-in
player does not have any rights (if he wins).
After the final round of betting, it’s time for – the Showdown. This
refers to the action of deciding who the winner of the pot is and the
final displaying of the cards by all players (though this is optional
for the player; he/she need not show the cards). Five cards out of the
hole and community cards are to be used for deciding the winning hand. A
combination of the following may be used -
• Both hole cards and three community cards
• One hole card & four community cards
• All five community cards (playing the board)
On the final round of betting, the player who bets first (or checks
first if no one else bets) is required to show their cards first at the
showdown. If they have the best hand, the remaining players may/may not
show their cards as they wish. The aggressors’ hand is only turned over
first if he was the last to initiate action on the river.
There is a set rank of cards, which is used for deciding the winning
combination. To view the various hands that are possible, click
here
If two or more hands are the same ranking, the winner is the one with
the higher cards. For example, a Flush with an Ace high beats a Flush
with a King high. If the poker hands remain tied, then the highest card
not being held in common (the kicker) determines the winner. The suit
order of the cards is not taken into account while deciding on the
winning cards. QQONLINEGAMES.com follows the standard rules of poker.
Should poker hands be absolutely identical in ranking, the poker pot
will be split evenly between the two or more winning players. If there
is an odd chip remaining from the split, the winning player to the left
of the button/dealer will receive it. This applies to both play money
and poker for real money.
For all the four rounds of betting, the house based on set rules
collects a commission, which is known as the rake in poker terminology.
The rules set at QQONLINEGAMES are:
The game play remains same for both No-Limit and Pot-Limit Texas Hold’em
game with a few exceptions to the rules mentioned above:
In Limit Texas Hold’em a maximum of four bets is allowed per player
during any betting round. This includes a (1) bet, (2) raise, (3)
re-raise, and (4) cap, but in No-Limit and Pot-Limit there is no limit
to the number of raises that a player can make. The only criteria are
that you cannot raise yourself, (i.e. if a player bets during a betting
round, then that player would have to be raised by another player in
order for him/her to be able to re-raise). If all the other players in
the hand only call or fold, the player would not get an option to raise,
because the last raise was done by him/her.
Betting Structure for No-Limit Texas Hold’em
Minimum raise: The raise amount must be at least as much as the previous
bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first player to
act bets $100 then the second player must raise a minimum of $100 (total
bet of $200).
Maximum eligible raise: The size of your stack (your chips on the table)
The Betting Rules for Pot-Limit Texas Hold’em
Minimum eligible raise: The raise amount must be at least as much as the
previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first
player to act bets $100 then the second player must raise a minimum of
$100 (total bet of $200).
Maximum eligible raise: The size of the pot: The size of the pot is
defined as the total of the active Pot (which can be either the main pot
or the side pot depending on whether anyone has gone “all-in”) plus all
bets on the table plus the amount the active player must first call
before raising.
As an example, if the active pot is $200 and the first player to act in
the round bets $150 and the next player calls $150, the third player has
a maximum eligible total bet of $800. The $800 total is made up of the
$150 call and $650 raise.
The $650 max raise portion is equal to the pot of $200 + first player's
$150 + second player's $150 + his own call of $150.
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