Basic Poker Rules
You can learn to play poker in 10 minutes, however, the old time Vegas pros will say they're still learning. On the surface, once you know the rules, it's very simple, but underneath it's the ultimate game of strategy and deception.
In Texas Hold'Em there are 4 possible rounds of betting in one single hand.
Pre Flop
At the start of a hand you will receive two cards face down; these are called your whole cards - a round of betting will now take place. Remember - your whole cards should be protected and not shown to the other players. At the end of this round of betting, everyone has to have contributed equally to the pot if they want to remain in the hand. When it is a player's turn to play, they may choose from the following actions:
Check
If there is not a bet already on the table, the player may, in essence, bet 0, and pass the action on to the next player. (On the first round of betting only, the big blind can have this option - please see below for explanation of this term.)
Call
If there is a bet on the table, the player may choose to match the bet.
Bet or Raise
If there were no bets on the table, the player places one by betting. If there was a bet on the table, the player may increase the bet by raising the sum.
Fold
The player does not choose to match the bet on the table and they forfeit any chance at winning the pot. They also surrender their cards.
The betting round ends when all players have contributed to the pot equally. From here the next round takes place.
The Flop
3 cards are now placed face up in the middle of the table. This is called the flop. These cards can be used in conjunction with your whole cards to make your best 5 card poker hand. Another round of betting now follows. (Your best hand is shown in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.)
The Turn
Another card is dealt face up on the table for everybody to use. Another round of betting now follows.
The River Card
This is the final card you can use to help your hand. The last round of betting will now take place and after it is complete all players still in the hands (game) should turn their cards over to find the winner.
One hand of Texas Hold-Em has now been completed.
Position and Blinds
It is very important to remember your position. The button, which is a white disc that moves around the table after each hand, shows who will act when, in each of the hands. At the beginning of a hand, the player to the left of the button must place a compulsory bet called the SMALL BLIND. The player to the left of the small blind must also place a bet known as the BIG BLIND. The big blind is always the minimum bet allowed at that level in the game. The player to act first in the hand PRE FLOP is to the left of the big blind. Action then flows clockwise around the table to the big blind. If the pot is raised at any point the action will finish on the right of the player who made the last bet, ie all players still in the hand must have placed the same amount of chips in the pot to move onto the next round. For the last 3 betting rounds, play starts from the left of the button.
Starting Hands and Poker Hands
Your starting hand is the two cards that get dealt to you face down. The best starting hand to get is two Aces, however, all hands are beatable - it all depends on the community cards.Good starting hands would be the high and middle pairs (eg 2 Kings, 2 Tens) and high cards, preferably of the same suit, with Ace King in the same suit being the best unpaired hands.Your poker hand is your best 5 card hand which you can make out of the community cards in the middle of the table and your two whole cards. (For a list of hand rankings please refer to the Poker Hands sheet.)
Objective
In Texas hold 'em individuals compete for an amount of money contributed by the players themselves (called the pot). Because the cards are dealt randomly and outside the control of the players, each player attempts to control the amount of money in the pot based on the hand the player holds.The game is divided into a series of hands or deals; at the conclusion of each hand, the pot is typically awarded to one player (an exception in which the pot is divided between more than one is discussed below). A hand may end at the showdown, in which case the remaining players compare their hands and the highest hand is awarded the pot; that highest hand is usually held by only one player, but can be held by more in the case of a tie. The other possibility for the conclusion of a hand is when all but one player have folded and have thereby abandoned any claim to the pot, in which case the pot is awarded to the player who has not folded.The objective of winning players is not winning every individual hand, but rather making mathematically correct decisions regarding when and how much to bet, raise, call or fold. By making such decisions, winning poker players maximize long-term winnings by maximizing their expected utility on each round of betting.
Heads up play
In heads up play, the dealer button is on the small blind. The small blind (dealer button) position acts first preflop. Then on the flop and after, the big blind position acts first.
the exception to the rule is if there are three runners remaining (small blind, big blind and the dealer) and the big blind goes out, for the next hand the small blind is dead (not in use) and play resumes with big blind acting first. After that hand heads up play resumes with the dealer and small blind being on the same player.
Multi table play
An important thing when organizing multi-table tournaments is to even out the tables when players are knocked out. Say you have seven players left at one table and eight at the other. If a player is knocked out at the seven player table you'll have only six left, but eight at the other table. When this happens you need to move one player to the table with six players to even out the tables.
There are different systems to determine which player you should move. We recommend you move the player that is going to post the next big blind. Let this player start on the big blind on the other table when he's moved.