Draw Poker

Draw Poker is the basic form of Poker and the place to start when introducing new players to the game. It's fairly uncommon these days in the casinos, but it is the form from which all other Poker games are derived.

The essence of Draw Poker is that the player builds a hand from 5 cards. After the initial round of betting the player may discard some or all of their cards and receive replacements. The players cards should never be revealed until the final Showdown, and are only then if absolutely necessary (more on that later). During the game, all cards are dealt and discarded face down.

There are two main things to learn when it comes to Draw Poker. The first is Poker's 5-card hands and their ranking. The second is the course of play including when and how to bet.

A poker hand is made from the best arrangement of five cards and are ranked as follows, highest first:

• Royal Flush: A-K-Q-J-10, all same suit
• Straight Flush: any five consecutive cards, all same suit
• Four-of-a-Kind: four cards, same value (eg. four 7's)
• Full House: Three-of-a-Kind and a Pair
• Flush: any five cards of the same suit
• Straight: any five consecutive cards
• Three-of-a-Kind: three cards, same value
• Two Pair
• Pair
• No Pair: five dissimilar cards, mixed suit

There are no wild cards in Draw Poker. All suits are ranked equally.

A round of Poker begins with determining the Dealer. The Deal usually rotates around the table from the right: if you've just dealt then the person on your left deals next.

Once assigned, the Dealer receives the deck and shuffles. Each player pays the "ante" which is a small, flat fee you pay to purchase the right to play that round. If you don't ante it means you are "sitting out". These monies and all others in the game go into the center of the table in a pile called "the pot". Once the antes are in, the Dealer deals one card at a time, face down, to each player around the table, beginning on the Dealer's left. Then the second card is dealt to each player, and so on until each player has 5 cards, all face down.

Players pick up their cards and assess their hand. The player to the Dealer's left opens the betting round by either placing a Bet, indicating a Pass by placing no bet, or Folding by discarding their hand.

The next player to the left now has the opportunity to Bet. Or they can Fold. If the previous players Passed then they can Pass too or place a Bet of their own. If other players have Bet and they wish to stay in the round they must Call by matching any outstanding bets. They can then Raise by placing a bet of their own.

The betting then moves to the next player on the left, then the next, and so on back to and including the Dealer.

Once the Dealer has placed their bet, the other players must Call any outstanding bets or Fold. Generally speaking, no Raises are permitted once the betting has passed around to the Dealer.

Players may now Discard any or all of their cards based on their hopes of building a better hand. Cards are discarded face down and collected by the Dealer.

The Dealer now deals each player, starting on the left, their replacement cards, face down.

As before the Player on the Dealer's left begins the betting and the betting proceeds around the table.

Again, the Dealer gets the final Raise. Then everyone else must Call or Fold. Finally, the remaining players are ready for the Showdown.

If at any time there is only one player left in the game they take the pot. This player is encouraged to keep their cards hidden and muck them to the Dealer.

After the final betting round, and all the necessary Calls, the players still in the game have reached the Showdown. The player's hands are revealed. The best hand wins and the winner takes the pot.

If there are tied winning hands then the rank of the individual cards determines the winner. For instance Full House of Aces over Jacks beats a Full House of Kings over Jacks. If it's still a tie and there are no kickers (spare cards not used to build the final hand) then the pot is split.

If the rank of the individual cards doesn't determine the winner, then the kicker(s) of higher rank determines the winner. If it's still a tie, the pot is split.

If there are no "name" hands (all players have No Pair), then the highest ranking single card is declared the winning hand. If it comes to a dead tie (no clear winner, all cards same rank) then the pot is split.

Suit is never used to determine a winner in Poker.

While hands and betting are the basic rules, there is much, much more to being a successful Poker player. Poker is not about having the highest ranking hand, it's about winning the biggest pots. How you do that, short of cheating, is your business and that is what makes Poker the beloved game that it is.

Texas Hold'em 

Object: The best possible five card poker hand, using any combination of hole cards and community cards, wins the pot.

Betting Rounds

All remaining players must use one of the following choices at the showdown:

1. Two pocket cards & three boardcards
2. One pocket card & four boardcards
3. No pocket cards & five boardcards (called playing the board)

Rules for Betting

There are four betting rounds in Texas Hold’em.

Bets and raises on the first two betting rounds are set at the lower limit of the stakes structure. In a $2/$4 game, all bets and raises are $2 for the first two rounds.

Bets and raises on the last two betting rounds are set at the higher limit of the stakes structure. In a $2/$4 game, all bets and raises are $4 for the last two rounds.

Four bets per player during any particular round is the maximum. This would consist of (1) a bet, (2) a raise, (3) a re-raise, and (4) a cap. Once the pot is capped, players will have only the option of calling or folding. There is no limit on the amount of raises once the hand becomes heads-up.

Dealer Button

In Texas Hold’em a disk called the dealer-button is used to indicate the dealer of each hand.

The dealer button moves clockwise after a hand has been completed to the next active player and this player will be playing the button for that game. The player to the left of the button is first to receive a card and is required to post a small blind. The small blind is equal to half the lower limit bet rounded down to the nearest dollar. The player to the left of the small blind is required to post the big blind. The big blind is equal to the lower limit bet.

The blinds are live bets and have the option of checking, calling, raising or folding when the betting action comes back around to their position. After the flop and after each subsequent betting round, the first active player left of the button is first to act.

Omaha Hold'em

The best possible five card poker hand, using exactly two hole cards and three community cards, wins the pot.

Betting Rounds

All remaining players must use their two pocket cards and the three boardcards.

Rules for Betting

There are four betting rounds in Omaha Hold’em.

Bets and raises on the first two betting rounds are set at the lower limit of the stakes structure. In a $2/$4 game, all bets and raises are $2 for the first two rounds.

Bets and raises on the last two betting rounds are set at the higher limit of the stakes structure. In a $2/$4 game, all bets and raises are $4 for the last two rounds.

Four bets per player during any particular round is the maximum. This would consist of (1) a bet, (2) a raise, (3) a re-raise, and (4) a cap. Once the pot is capped, players will have only the option of calling or folding. There is no limit on the amount of raises once the hand becomes heads-up.

Dealer Button

In Omaha Hold’em a disk called the dealer-button is used to indicate the dealer of each hand.

The dealer button moves clockwise after a hand has been completed to the next active player and this player will be playing the button for that game. The player to the left of the button is first to receive a card and is required to post a small blind. The small blind is equal to half the lower limit bet rounded down to the nearest dollar. The player to the left of the small blind is required to post the big blind. The big blind is equal to the lower limit bet.

The blinds are live bets and have the option of checking, calling, raising or folding when the betting action comes back around to their position. After the flop and after each subsequent betting round, the first active player left of the button is first to act.

Seven-Card Stud

OBJECT: The best five card poker hand, out of seven cards, wins the pot.

1.Players must place an ante into the pot.

2.Each player is dealt two cards face-down (hole cards) and one card face-up (door card)

3.1st betting round

4.Each player is dealt one card face-up (4th street)

5.2nd betting round

6.Each player is dealt another card face-up (5th street)

7.3rd betting round

8.Each player is dealt another card face-up (6th street)

9.4th betting round

10.Each player is dealt a last card face-down (river)

11.Last betting round

12.Showdown (Every remaining player shows hand with bettor showing first)

Players may use any 5 of their 7 cards to make their best hand.

Betting Rules

All players must first ante before they receive their initial cards. There are five betting rounds in a complete game of 7-Card Stud, ante not included.

On the first round of betting, the low card by suit is required to initiate action with a bet equal to half the lower limit. Suits are ranked: spades (highest), hearts, diamonds, clubs. On subsequent rounds, the high hand on board initiates betting action. If hands are tied, the player to the left of the dealer acts first. In all cases, the dealer will inform the players as to who acts first.

Each bet and raise during the first two rounds of betting is set at the lower limit of the stakes structure. For example in a $2/$4 game, all bets and raises are $2 for the first two rounds. The exception to this rule is if any player displays a pair with their 2 face-up cards on 4^th Street. In this circumstance, all players have the option to bet either the lower limit or the higher limit. If a player bets the higher limit, then all subsequent raises must be made at the higher limit.

Each bet and raise during the last three rounds of betting is set at the higher limit of the stakes structure. For example in a $2/$4 game, all bets and raises are $4 for the last three rounds.

The maximum allowable number of bets per player during any particular betting round is four. This would consist of (1) a bet, (2) a raise, (3) a re-raise, and (4) a cap. Once the pot is capped, players will have only the option of calling or folding. There is no limit on the amount of raises once the hand becomes heads-up.

Mississippi Seven-Card Stud

OBJECT: The best five card poker hand, out of seven cards, wins the pot.

1. Ante, then deal two cards down and one up: Low card must bet in limit-betting games, high card must bet or fold in big-bet games.
2. Deal each active player two more upcards; bet from highest hand.
3. Deal each player a fourth upcard: bet from highest hand.
4. Deal each player a fifth upcard: bet from highest hand and showdown.

Starting and raising requirements in Mississippi are about the same as seven-card stud, with some marginal hands being made playable by the two card flop: high pairs decrease in profitability, while straights and flushes improve. Small pairs with kickers do better against the high pairs, but lose more often to straights and flushes, so they remain about the same. Rolled-up trips occur in 1/424 hands. Mississippi is playable (in the last-card-down limit-betting version) on any seven-card stud simulator by turning off all fourth-street betting.

Betting structures: Half-pot, pot-limit and no-limit betting: in big-bet (i.e., non-limit) games, all forms of stud require an ante from each player, with the highest card or hand speaking first in all rounds of play: in the first round the high card must either bet or fold, in later rounds the high hand can either bet or check. The initial bet size is at the discretion of the opener and can usually be as small as one ante, or up to the maximum bet size allowed in the form used: i.e., half the total antes in half-pot, the total antes in full-pot and as much as you wish in no-limit.

Limit betting structures: there is an ante, a compulsory bring-in from the low card and bets typically double for the last two rounds, though this can be varied according to player's tastes. The bets are usually capped at three per round, except in head-to-head pots. (There is a good case for doubling the bet again in the last round of all limit betting games - or even in every round - to increase the effect of bluffing, but that's another story.)

1. Low ante: ante one unit, bring-in 2 units, raise 10 units. The maximum bet for the first two rounds is 10 units, with bets doubling for the third and fourth rounds.
2. High ante: ante four units, bring-in five units, raise 10 units. Bets double to 20 units for the third and fourth rounds.