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And you can play these games for
free (play money) or using real money at Party Poker.com.
The Texas Holdem Poker Game:
Texas 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, internally
the PartyPoker.com system generates a fresh deck of cards
for the hand. On PartyPoker.com, they 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 of the deck in a particular position. Once
the complete deck is created, the deck is used for that particular
hand only. They shuffle the deck of cards every time they
start a hand, and the random numbers previously generated
are discarded and new ones generated before the shuffle. The
RNG code has been successfully audited by BMM, Australia,
and its integrity is verified daily. BMM is one of the leading
auditors of gaming solutions in the industry.
The First round
of Texas Hold em:
A fresh table starts of with the first person sitting on the
table becoming the dealer and the next player posting the
small blind. A new game on a 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 PartyPoker.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) to place the Big Blind in turn. 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
starts. The player to the left of the player who placed the
big blind starts the betting for this round.
Each player will now have the option to place his or her bets
in the first round, which is set at the lower limit of the
stakes structure. For example in a $10/$20 Hold’em game, value
of each bet is $10 for the first round. When we say the bets
are limited to $10, it refers to: a Bet (single bet) of the
value of $10, so when a user places “BET” then it is $10,
“RAISE” would be $20 – 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. Raise action
calls for raising whatever was the bet/call amount of the
previous player, and can be calculated based on the value
of the previous bet amount.
Every player participating in the hand should place equal
amount of bet as the previous players (includes bets, calls
and raises). Till the time all the players have placed equal
amounts in the pot, the betting will continue. There is 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” 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 the players participating in the hand.
The Second Round
of Texas Hold 'em:
After the flop and in each subsequent betting round, the first
active player 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 Bet (single bet) of the
value of $10, so when a user places “BET” then it is $10,
“RAISE” would be $20 – 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.
These options are available to each player depending on the
action taken by the previous player. The first player placing
the bet would get the Bet option (the player left to the Button).
Other players will get the Call and Raise options only.
After this the fourth community card is dealt out – this is
known as the Turn.
The Third Round of Texas Hold 'em:
The third betting round starts again with the player left
to 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 Bet (single bet) of the value of $20, so when
a user places “BET” then it is $20, “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 the
bet would get the Bet option (the player left to the Button).
After this the fifth community card is dealt out – this is
known as the River.
The Fourth Round of Texas Hold 'em:
The fourth (and final) betting round starts again with the
player left to 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 Bet (single bet) of the value of $20,
so when a user places “BET” then it is $20, “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 the bet would get the Bet option (the player left
to the Button).
Some Standard Rules at PartyPoker.com
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 shows the player cards being moved to
the dealer. The player from then on would not be considered
as part of the game. He/she would not have any rights over
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 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
bet placed by any other players for each round in the hand.
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 the 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 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 already 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 PartyPoker.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 got disconnected or not. This
means if a players gets disconnected and reconnects back and
he has some seconds left for his turn, then he is given an
additional 20 seconds to play his turn. But 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 – Showdown.
This refers to the action of deciding who the winner of the
pot is and display of the cards from all players (though this
is optional for the player, he/she need not show the cards).
Five cards of the total of hole and community cards are to
be used for deciding on the winning hands. 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 ranks that are
possible, click here
If two or more hands are the same ranking,
the winner is the one having 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.PartyPoker.com follow standard rules
of poker. Should poker hands be absolutely identical in ranking,
the rule of poker pot distribution will be split evenly between
the two or more winning players. If there is an odd chip,
the winning player to the left of the button/dealer will receive
it. This applies to both play money (free) 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.
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