GAMES - Poker

1.0 Basic Rules of Texas Hold 'Em

Each player starts the game with the same number of betting chips.

The aim of the game is for each player to win chips by making the best five card poker hand (see last page) using a combination of their two hole cards and the five community cards.

At the beginning of a hand, each player is dealt two hole cards face down. Players may look at their own hole cards. There is then a round of betting.

Three community cards ("the flop") are then revealed face-up in the centre of the table. There is then a second round of betting.

A fourth community card ("the turn") is then revealed, followed by a third round of betting.

A fifth community card ("the river") is then revealed, followed by a fourth and final round of betting.

A player wins the hand either by showing down the best hand when all betting is complete, or by getting all of the other players to fold their hands during the betting rounds.

Players are allowed to use the following combinations of cards in order to make their hand:
- Both of their hole cards combined with three community cards.
- One of their hole cards combined with four community cards.
- None of their hole cards, using all five community cards. This is known as "playing the board" and by doing so it is not possible to win a hand outright, only tie (since the other players can play the board as well).

Players are eliminated from the game if they lose all of their chips in a hand. Hands are dealt and play continues until one player has won all of the chips and is declared the winner.

2.0 Dealing Procedure

At the start of game, each player draws a card to determine who will be the first dealer. Aces are high. In the event of a tie, the tying players draw again until there is a single winner.

A plastic disc ("the button") is placed on the table in front of the dealer. After each hand the dealer button (and hence the dealer) moves clockwise one space around the table.

The dealer shuffles the cards and offers the deck to the player on his right to cut. After the cut the dealer deals the hole cards, commencing with the player to his left.

If players fold their hands, the dealer should retrieve these cards and form a face down "muck" pile. Folded cards should not be left in front of players, as this could confuse which players are left in the hand.

After each round of betting is complete, it is the dealer's responsibility to move the chips from that round into the centre of the table, forming a "pot".

Before dealing the flop, the top card on the deck is "burned" (discarded) by the dealer before the three flop cards are dealt. This is to prevent cheating in case the top card of the deck is marked in some way. The dealer also burns a second card before dealing the turn, and burns a third card before dealing the river.

It is recommended that the dealer avoids all unnecessary card manipulation during a hand, as such manipulations increase the likelihood of revealing hidden cards to players. For example: - The dealer should not attempt to put mucked cards at the bottom of deck.
- The dealer should not attempt to put burned cards at bottom of deck.
- The dealer should not deal out the turn and river cards face down in advance.


The dealer is not allowed to shuffle the deck while a hand is being played.

3.0 Basic Betting Rules

In the first round of betting, the player to the left of the dealer must post a compulsory bet ("the small blind"). The player to the left of the small blind must also post a compulsory bet ("the big blind"). The big blind is usually twice the amount of the small blind. The purpose of the blinds is to get some chips in the pot at the start of a hand to encourage action. This size of the blinds will be advised at the start of the game.

In the first betting round, the first player to act is the player to the left of the big blind. On all subsequent betting rounds the first player to act is the small blind (the player to the left of the dealer). Action proceeds clockwise around the table.

When it is a player's turn to act, their options depend on whether the previous players have put chips into the pot on this betting round. If there are already chips in the pot this round (even just blinds), then the player’s options are:
- Fold. The player contributes no further chips, discards their cards and is out of the hand. A player with a poor hand that is unlikely to improve will often fold. When folding, cards must be returned to the dealer face down and not be revealed to the other players.
- Call. The player puts in the same amount of chips as the previous player(s) and remains in the hand. A player with a marginal hand or one that may improve depending on the community cards is likely to call.
- Raise. The player puts in more chips that the previous player(s). Other players must now call this raise if they wish to stay in the hand. If there has already been a raise in a betting round, a subsequent raise is also known as a "re-raise". A player with a strong hand (or who feels like bluffing) is likely to raise or re-raise.

If there are not yet any chips in the pot on this betting round, the player's options are:
- Check. The player declines to put any chips in the pot and stays in the hand.
- Bet. The player puts chips into the pot. Other players must now call this bet if they wish to stay in the hand.
- Technically, a player facing no bets can also fold, although in practice this rarely occurs since the player can simply check and stay in the hand.

A special situation occurs in the first round of betting only. If there has been no raise when the action reaches the big blind, the big blind has the option to check or raise. If the big blind checks, it closes the action and the flop is dealt. If the big blind raises then the other players must call the raise to continue.

In a betting round action continues until all players have either folded or called the last bet/raise. If all players except one have folded, then the remaining player wins the pot and the hand is over.

4.0 Betting Specifics for No Limit Hold 'Em

All bets/raises must be at least the size of the big blind, or the size of the previous raise in the current betting round, whichever is higher.

Example 1: Small blind is 100. Big blind is 200. A player raises 400, to a total of 600. If a subsequent player wishes to re-raise they must make it at least 1000 total (another raise of 400). They are also free to raise to any amount above 1000.

If a player puts all of their remaining chips into the pot, they are said to be "all in". Once a player is all in, if the other players have more chips than the all in player and wish to continue betting, their chips go into a side pot. The all in player can only win the main pot, whereas the remaining players can win the main pot and the side pot. If the all in player has the best hand, the second best hand will win the side pot. If multiple players go all in at the same time, multiple side pots are possible.

Example 2: Player A bets 500, Player B calls 500, Player C goes all in for 400. The main pot is 1200 and there is a side pot of 200 between Player A and Player B.

If an all-in player does not have enough chips to make a full raise, it is deemed as a call in terms of closing the betting to further raises. However, if a player is yet to act in a betting round, he always has the option to raise, regardless of whether or not he is facing a legal raise.

Example 3a: Player A bets 200, Player B calls 200, Player C goes all-in for 350 (a raise of 150). Player A can only call for 150 more or fold. He cannot re-raise as he is not facing a legal raise (which would be at least 200 more).

Example 3b: Player A bets 200, Player B calls 200, Player C goes all-in for 450 (a raise of 250). The raise from Player C is legal and Player A has all options open and can raise, call or fold.

Example 3c: Player A checks, Player B goes all in for 150 (where a minimum raise would have been 200), Player C to act. Although not facing a legal raise, Player C has yet to act this betting round and thus can raise, call or fold. If Player C calls, Player A cannot raise as he has already acted and is not facing a legal raise. If Player C raises, Player A has all options open as he is now facing a legal raise from Player C.

If no more betting is possible in the hand because an all in bet has been called and no side pots are possible, the remaining players should turn their cards face up while the remaining community cards are dealt.

When only two players remain in the game because all other players have been eliminated, this is known as "heads-up". During heads-up play, the dealer is also the small blind and acts first on the first betting round. The other player is the big blind and acts first on all subsequent betting rounds.

Unless previously agreed, when heads up the two players continue to play until one player has all the chips. On certain occasions, it may be agreed that when the tournament gets to the heads up stage the chip leader is declared the winner and the other player takes second place. This is usually for expedience if there are many players waiting for the next game to start. However, unless this is stated at the start, always assume that games will be played until one player has all the chips.

5.0 Miscellaneous Betting Topics

A player is not allowed to act when it is not their turn to do so. If a player mistakenly acts out of turn the action is binding unless there is an intervening bet or raise (if there is an intervening call, check or fold the original action is still binding). If there is an intervening bet or raise, a player who checked or called out of turn may only call or fold, they may not raise.

Verbal actions when it is a player's turn to act are binding, e.g. if a player states "I call" or "all in" they are bound to the stated action even if they have not yet moved any chips into the pot. Verbal propositions out of turn are not binding and are considered part of the game, e.g. "if you go all in I'm going to fold" is perfectly legitimate and the player has all options open even if the other player does go all in following the comment.

String betting, as commonly seen in the movies, is not allowed. E.g. "I see your 100, and raise you 100". This is in line with the previous paragraph in that the initial verbal action is a call and cannot be changed to a raise. Similarly, when raising a player must put all the chips he intends to raise by into the pot in one movement. A player may not reach into his stack for more chips and increase the raise in the same turn.

If a player calls a bet without realising there has been a raise, he can take his chips back and reconsider his action.

Example: Player A bets 200, Player B raises to 400, Player C calls 200 thinking that Player B just called. Once it is pointed out to Player C that Player B had raised, Player C may take his chips back and can decide again whether to fold or call (but may not raise).

Any action, motions or movements in turn that cause other players to act behind are binding. For example:
- If a player moves chips towards the pot (even if they don't let go), this is interpreted as a bet / call / raise (depending on the amount of chips moved).
- If a player moves his hole cards towards the dealer, this is interpreted as a fold.
- If a player taps the table this is interpreted as a check.

"Splashing the pot" when betting by allowing new chips being bet to get mixed up with existing chips in the pot is not allowed. Only the dealer gathers chips together into the central pot, and does so only at the end of each betting round. If the pot is splashed accidentally the betting should be reconstructed as far as possible and the chips replaced where they should be. If there is any disagreement, the benefit of doubt will be against the splasher.

A lot of the rules in this section can easily be violated by beginners who are learning the game. If this happens, the rules should be interpreted in terms of the inexperienced player's "best intentions". If it is clear that the player intended to raise but string bet because they saw it in a film, it should not be ruled a call. The inexperienced player should be informed of the correct rule for future reference, but not be penalised. It is not in the interests of the game to make beginners feel unwelcome.

6.0 Showdown Procedure

If there are two or more players left at the end of the last round of betting, there is a showdown to see who has the best hand.

In a showdown, the player who made the last aggressive action (bet or raise) must show their cards first. If there was no aggressive action on the last round of betting (it was checked around), then the player to the left of dealer must show their cards first.

The other player(s) may then show their cards, but may also choose to muck them without showing if they cannot beat the hand already shown. Once all hands have been shown or mucked, the pot is awarded to the player who has shown down the best hand.

Any player can request to see hands that are mucked at a showdown, but it is extremely bad etiquette to make such a request as it is equivalent to an accusation of collusion. If a request to see mucked cards comes from the pot winner, the mucked cards are still live and the player who mucked will win the pot if their hand is better than the original winner (perhaps they misread their hand). If the request comes from any other player, the cards are dead and the pot winner will always remain the same.

If two (or more) players show down hands which tie, then the pot is split evenly between those players. If the pot does not split evenly and an odd chip is left over, this is awarded to the first hand clockwise from the dealer.

If a player wins without a showdown (by making all the other players fold), he is not obliged to show his cards.

7.0 Mistakes and Misdeals

"Show one show all". If a player mistakenly or deliberately reveals one or both hole cards to another player who is still in the hand, the cards must be shown to all players. Similarly, if the dealer mistakenly reveals a card from the deck or muck pile to another player, it must be shown to all players.

The following situations constitute a misdeal:
- A card has been exposed by a dealer error.
- An invalid card (e.g. Joker) has been dealt.
- An incorrect number of cards has been dealt to a player (except if the sequence can be reasonably restored before the deal continues).
- Any card has been dealt out of the proper sequence (except if the sequence can be reasonably restored before the deal continues).
- The button was out of position.
- The first card was dealt to the wrong position.
- Cards have been dealt to an empty seat or a player not entitled to a hand.
- Cards have not been dealt to a player who is entitled to a hand.
- The deck has an incorrect number of cards when dealing begins.


If a misdeal occurs and attention is brought to it before two players have acted, the hand must be re-dealt. If a misdeal is discovered after two players have acted the hand continues. If a player discovers they have the wrong number of hole cards or invalid cards (e.g. Joker) after two players have acted then their hand is dead. If they have already contributed chips to the pot they will not be returned. It is each player's responsibility to ensure they have correct cards before action begins.

POKER HAND RANKINGS

Rank Hand Description Example Ties (what happens if 2 or more players have the same hand type)

1 Royal Flush Ace-high straight flush. A?K?Q?J?10? Split pot.

2 Straight Flush Five cards in a row of the same suit. 7•6•5•4•3• Higher cards win:
7•6•5•4•3• beats
5•4•3•2•A•

3 Four of a Kind Four cards of same rank. Also known as "quads". 9•9?9?9?A? Highest 4 wins, then 5th card (the “kicker”) plays:
J?J?J•J?9? beats
9•9?9?9?A? beats
9•9?9?9?K?

4 Full House Three of a kind plus a pair. K•K?K?2?2? Highest 3 wins, then highest pair:
K•K?K?2?2? beats
Q•Q?Q?A?A? beats
Q•Q?Q?K•K?

5 Flush Five cards of the same suit (in any order). K?10?8?7?4? Highest card wins, then 2nd, then 3rd etc:
A?6?5?4?3? beats
K?Q?J?10?8? beats
K?Q?J?10?7?

6 Straight Five cards in row (of any suit). Ace can be high or low but wrap-around (e.g. KA234) not allowed. A?K•Q?J?10? Higher cards win:
A?K•Q?J?10? beats
K•Q?J?10?9? beats
5?4•3?2?A?

7 Three of a Kind Three cards of same rank. Also known as "trips" or "a set". J?J•J?2?7? Higher 3 wins, then “kickers” play:
J?J•J?2?7? beats
9•9?9?A?K? beats
9•9?9?A?Q?

8 Two Pairs Self-explanatory. A?A?2?2•3? Higher top pair wins, then higher bottom pair, then "kicker" plays:
A?A?2?2•3? beats
K?K•Q?Q?J• beats
K?K•J•J?A? beats
K?K•J•J?Q?

9 Pair Two cards of same rank. 9?9?4•3?2• Higher pair wins, then "kickers" play:
9?9?4•3?2• beats
8?8?A?3?2• beats
8?8?K?Q?J? beats
8?8?K?Q?10?

10 High Card Nothing! A•6?4•3?2? Highest card wins, then 2nd, then 3rd etc:
A•6?4•3?2? beats
K?Q?J?10?8? beats
K?Q?J?10?7?