Poker, is considered by most card-game enthusiasts, as the pinnacle of card-game enjoyment. It's played in various forms all over the world. Our version is based on Texas Hold'em No Limit Poker. To help you understand the game better we've explained below how it's played:-

Texas Hold'em Poker is a 7 card game. All players are dealt 2 Hole Cards each (personal cards) and 5 Community Cards (shared cards). Each player has to try and make the best possible 5 card poker hand out of the total 7 cards available. The player with the best cards wins during the showdown.

Players join a room to play Gamentio Poker based on the value of the Small Blind and Big Blind they wish to play with (e.g. $10/20, $20/40).

Incase of players, who choose to Play with Points these stakes are represented in Gamentio Points (Ǥ), whereas for players who choose to Play with Chips these stakes will be denoted in the form of Chips.

Dealer Button: Once you are seated at the table, the player to the left of the Dealer posts the Small Blind (denoted by the appearance of ''SB'' on top of the player) and the player to the left of the Small Blind posts the Big Blind (denoted by the appearance of ''BB'' on top of the player). This is a type of compulsory bet in the game of Poker and is posted automatically while playing on Gamentio. The dealer button rotates clockwise around the table.

Please keep in mind, that if you're joining a room where a game is already in progress the Dealer button will continue to move clockwise around the table.

After the Blinds are posted the betting begins, which takes place over four rounds, namely, Pre-Flop, Flop, Turn and River:-

Pre-Flop: The Dealer deals Two Hole Cards (private cards) to each player at the table. This round of betting is known as the Pre-Flop. The betting starts with the person sitting to the left of the Big Blind. Players may either Call, Fold or Raise. The round comes to an end when all the players have acted.

Flop: The Dealer, deals out Three Community Cards. These cards are dealt face up and are visible to all the players at the table. This round of betting is known as the Flop. Players again place their bets, this time the first person to place a bet is the player who posted the Small Blind. Betting then moves clockwise around the table. From this round onwards all bets are placed in this order until the end of the Hand.

Turn: After betting on the Flop ends, the Dealer deals out a Single Community Card. It is called the Turn and again, based on the cards dealt so far and intuition, players place their bets. Once all the bets on the Turn are clocked in, the next round commences.

River: The dealer deals out the Final (single) Community Card, known as the River. This connotes the final round of betting for the Hand being played. Players place their final bets and prepare for the Showdown.

Showdown: Only the Active Players enter a Showdown. A showdown is the most exciting part of any Poker Hand. This is when the cards of all the Active Players at the table are revealed to everyone. The player with the best hand is declared as the winner and is entitled to the Pot. However if all but one player Fold, the remaining active player is declared the winner by default. This player's cards are not revealed since no Showdown takes place. He/she is directly awarded the Pot.

Question: Does late position help in winning Poker hands more often?

Answer: As a matter of fact, the later your position in Poker, the better your chances to gather information about your opponents' cards by the time it's your turn. Later position, without a doubt, allows a player to weigh their cards against everyone else's cards and take better decisions.

Question: What are the basic rules of Poker?

Answer: In Poker, players bet into a communal pot during the hand. In the end, the player holding the best 5-card hand win all the content of the pot during the hand. A player can take following actions during the Poker hand.

1. Check: A bet without putting any chips into the pot.

2. Bet or raise: It's a bet greater than the preceding bets that all successive players are now forced to either match or exceed, or forfeit all interest in the pot.

3. Call: A bet that matches a preceding bet and keeps a player's interest in the pot.

4. Fold: Quitting the hand by surrendering your cards, thereby losing all the chips you betted previously during the hand.

Question: What are Poker hand rankings?

Answer:

Question: What's the difference between Texas Hold'em and Omaha?

Answer: Both the games are popular variants of Poker. In texas Hold'em a player receives two hole cards. Then, five community cards are dealt and players have to make the best hand of five cards. Omaha, on the other hand, calls for four hole cards to be dealt in the beginning to every player. After that, five community cards are dealt face up. The players have to make the best hand of five cards by using two of the hole cards and three of the community cards.

Question: Is it possible to have three pairs in Texas Hold'em?

Answer: No. Since Texas Hold'em is the game of the best five-card hand, you cannot make a six-card hand in the first place. Even if you have three pairs from your hole cards and community cards together, you can't use them to their advantage. Always remember the rankings of Poker hands before joining the table.

Enlisted below are some Gamentio Poker rules to help you understand the game better :-

• Buy-In: In Poker, players play based on what kind of stake they want to bet in a game. So, a Buy-In is the total value of stakes a player chooses to bet in each hand of Poker he/she plays. The total buy-in in Gamentio Poker is 100 times the value of the Big Blind.

• All-In: This feature allows a player to bet all his available chips at any point during a hand being Played.

  This feature allows players to Call a bet by using their remainder chips even when they don't have sufficient chips to match the bet being placed. The player is declared "All-in" and continues to participate in the game as though they have "Called" the bet normally. However, they can't win more money than the amount of their own bet from other players at the table.

• Value of bets: The minimum bet a player can place is the same as the Big Blind. A player who chooses to Raise, adds an additional bet to the previous bet that has already been placed.

• Sharing of the Pot: If two or more players have winning hands, the Pot then gets shared equally between the players.

  Since the game requires a player to make the best 5 card hand possible. A Player can choose to do that by,

  • Using both his hole cards and three community cards or,
  • Using one hole card and four community cards or,
  • Using all five community cards (this is called playing the board).

  If all the players are playing the board then the Pot gets divided equally amongst all the active players.

  Example: The community cards during a hand

  • Player X has
  • Player Y has
  • Player Z has

  This is a three-way tie, since all three players have Q-Q-9-9-A as their best hand. The pot will be split equally between X, Y and Z.

• For the purpose of comparing hands all suits are equal.

• Each player gets 15 seconds to make a move.

• In the game of Poker each betting round comes to an end when, contribution to the Pot of each active player (player who has not folded) at the table is equal. This implies that either a player raises a bet (Raise), or, matches the bet being placed (Call or Check), or, Folds (leaves the game).

• Gamentio deducts Rake at the rate of 4% on each hand played.

• 10 Unlocked Points will be deducted if a player fails to act in the stipulated time or abandons a game after the cards are dealt.

• Ranking order of Poker hands

  Rank of cards in ascending order :

  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K A

Poker Glossary :

• A
  • Active Player : A player who has not folded and is still involved in the Pot.
  • All-in : It's a special feature in Poker where, you can bet all your available chips in a single bet. A player can do this at any time during a hand.
  • Ante : A fixed amount of forced bet that players are required to contribute before a hand is dealt.
• B
  • Bet : The first player to act on the Flop has the choice to place a Bet. The players that follow after, either Call or Raise.
  • Big Blind : Compulsory bet made by the player sitting next to the Small Blind. The value of Big Blind is double that of the Small Blind.
  • Buy-in : The total amount of Chips a player chooses to take to the table before he/ she starts playing.
• C
  • Call : To match a bet that has already been placed.
  • Check : When a person who's chance it is to place a bet, chooses not to do so, he may ''check''. Herein, no money is bet. If other players also don't want to raise a bet they may do the same.
  • Community Cards : Cards that are dealt face-up by the Dealer and can be used by all players.
• D
• Dealer : The person who deals the cards, or, the person who has the dealer button while someone else physically deals the cards.
• F
  • Flop : The first three community cards are dealt together and are known as the Flop. This is the second round of betting in a Poker game.
  • Flush : Five random cards of the same suit.
  • Fold : If a player doesn't want to play further they Fold and exit the hand being played. Further betting has no effect on their chips.
  • Four of a Kind : Four out of five cards are of the same rank.
  • Fullhouse : Three of and kind with a pair.
• H
  • High Card : When no particular hand is being formed the player with the highest card(s) wins.
  • Hole cards : Two individual cards dealt to each player, face down.
• O
  • One Pair : Two out of five cards belong to the same rank.
• P
  • Pot : It is the total value of bets placed during the hand. At the end of the hand the Pot amount is awarded to the winner.
  • Pre-Flop : Name of betting round that takes place after Hole Cards are dealt but before the Community Cards are dealt. This is the first round of betting in a Poker hand.
• R
  • Raise : When a player wants to put in an additional bet its called a Raise. In no-limit versions (like Gamentio's) a player is free to raise a bet of any value.
  • Rake : A small, fixed percentage of the Pot amount taken by the house as fees for conducting the game and providing other services.
  • River : Also known as the Fifth, is the term used for the last community card dealt. This is the final betting round in a poker hand.
  • Royal Flush : 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of the same suit.
• S
  • Showdown : The end of a hand when the cards of all the active players are revealed to evaluate the winner.
  • Side Pot : This is a special situation in which two Pots run simultaneously, as, one player goes all-in and other players continue to bet.
  • Small Blind : Small value of compulsory bet made by the person sitting next to the Dealer.
  • Straight : Five consecutive cards belonging to different suits.
  • Straight Flush : Five consecutive cards of the same suit.
• T
  • Three of a kind : Three out of five cards are of the same rank.
  • Turn : Also known as the Fourth, is the term used for the fourth community card dealt. It's the third round of betting.
  • Two Pairs : Four out of five cards are two different pairs.