The Rules of Online Poker
At our site you’ll find all the world’s most popular poker games, including Texas Hold’em, Omaha❤️ and many more.
How Do You Win?
Typically, the winner of each hand of poker is the player that holds the highest❤️ ranked hand when all cards are shown at the end of the hand –known as the ‘showdown’ – or the❤️ player that makes the last uncalled bet, thus winning without needing to reach a showdown. Not sure whether a flush❤️ beats a straight? Can’t remember how to make a full house? You can find all the information you need to❤️ know about hand rankings in the table below (click here for more). The strongest hands are in the top row,❤️ running from left to right, with the weakest possible hand being simply a high card.
Royal Flush
Straight Flush
Four of a Kind
Full❤️ House
Flush
Straight
Three of a Kind
Two Pair
One Pair
High Card
Getting Started
Poker games typically feature a forced bet, such as the Big Blind and❤️ Small Blind in Hold’em and Omaha. These forced bets comprise the starting pot in any given hand of poker, which❤️ is the first incentive players have to win the hand. Action arising from the subsequent rounds of betting further increases❤️ the size of the pot.
Dealing Cards and Betting Rounds
After any initial cards are dealt, players are usually called upon to❤️ act in turn, moving clockwise around the table. Each player can usually take one of the following actions when it❤️ is their turn to act:
Check – To check is to decline the opportunity to open the betting. Players can only❤️ check when there is no bet during the current round, and the act of checking passes the action clockwise to❤️ the next person in the hand. If all active players check, those players remain in the hand and the round❤️ is considered complete.
– To check is to decline the opportunity to open the betting. Players can only check when there❤️ is no bet during the current round, and the act of checking passes the action clockwise to the next person❤️ in the hand. If all active players check, those players remain in the hand and the round is considered complete.❤️ Bet – Players may bet if no other players have bet during the current round. Once a bet has been❤️ made, other players must ‘call’ by matching the amount bet, in order to remain in the hand.
– Players may bet❤️ if no other players have bet during the current round. Once a bet has been made, other players must ‘call’❤️ by matching the amount bet, in order to remain in the hand. Fold – Players who fold forfeit their cards❤️ and cannot win or act again during the current hand.
– Players who fold forfeit their cards and cannot win or❤️ act again during the current hand. Call – Players can call if other players have bet during the current round;❤️ this requires the calling player to match the highest bet made.
– Players can call if other players have bet during❤️ the current round; this requires the calling player to match the highest bet made. Raise – Players may raise if❤️ other players have bet during the current round; this requires the raising player to match the highest bet made, and❤️ then make a greater one. All subsequent players are required to call the raise or raise again (‘re-raise’) to stay❤️ in the hand.
Different variants of poker have different betting rounds. Texas Hold’em and Omaha are the two most popular poker❤️ games in the world and have identical betting structures, with four rounds of betting known as pre-flop, the flop, the❤️ turn and the river. The pre-flop betting round begins as soon as all players have received their hole cards, before❤️ any community cards have been dealt; betting on the flop occurs after the first three community cards are dealt; on❤️ the turn after the fourth community card; and on the river after the fifth and final community card. On each❤️ betting round, betting continues until every player has either matched the bets made or folded (if no bets are made,❤️ the round is complete when every player has checked). When the betting round is completed, the next dealing/betting round begins,❤️ or the hand is complete. Here’s an example of a Texas Hold’em hand after all the cards have been dealt.❤️ As you can see, players may use any of their two hole cards with any of the five community cards❤️ to make the best five-card hand they can make - in this case, you can use both your hole cards❤️ and three of the shared community cards to make a straight.
Your opponents’ hole cards Community Cards Your hole cards
Showdown
Once the❤️ last bet or raise has been called during the final round of betting, a showdown occurs; the remaining active players❤️ must show or ‘declare’ their hands, and the player(s) with the best ranking hand(s) win the pot. Players often show❤️ their hands in order, rather than all at the same time. Multiple players can share a single pot, with the❤️ pot divided in different ways depending on the game rules and how each player’s hand ranks against their opponents.
Betting Limits
Betting❤️ limits refer to the amount players may open and raise. Typically, poker games are of the following types; no limit,❤️ pot limit or fixed limit.
No Limit – in poker games with a no limit betting structure, each player can bet❤️ or raise by any amount up to and including their full stack (the total number of chips they possess at❤️ any given time) in any betting round, whenever it is their turn to act.
Pot Limit – in poker games with❤️ a pot limit betting structure, each player can bet or raise by any amount up to and including the size❤️ of the total pot at that time.
Fixed Limit – in poker games with a fixed limit betting structure, each player❤️ can choose to call, bet or raise, but only by a fixed amount. The fixed amount for any given betting❤️ round is set in advance.
For No Limit and Pot Limit games, the ‘Stakes’ column in the PokerStars lobby indicates the❤️ Small Blind and Big Blind in that game, while for Mixed Games, the Stakes listed in the lobby are the❤️ betting amounts for Limit games; in Pot Limit and No Limit rounds, the blinds are usually half of the blinds❤️ in limit games.
Table Stakes and All-in
