Poker is undoubtedly the most famous gambling game which can be found in every casino in the world, whether it is land-based or online, big or small. There are many variations of the game, and every single one of them has its own rules. But the aim of every poker variation is the same, which is to put together a stronger poker hand than your opponent.
With that said, here are some of the most played poker games around, and how to play them with real money. Let’s break down the details.
Texas Hold’em Real Money
We are sure that everyone has played or at least heard of Texas Hold’em poker, the most known poker variant of them all. Some of the biggest gambling tournaments feature this game and give out very high prices.
Learning how to play Texas Hold’em Poker for real money isn’t very difficult as there are very simple rules that apply to this game.
Texas Holde’em Rules
At the start of the game, each player will be dealt two face-down cards. After that, five so-called community cards are placed face-up by the dealer on the table. The five community cards are dealt in three stages, wherein between the stages, players are allowed to rise a bet.
In the first stage, called the flop, three cards are dealt, while the rest two cards are dealt in the stages called at the turning stage and the river. These community cards are shared and used by all players, which they combine with their own cards to make the best possible 5-card hand. The card rankings go from A, which is the highest, to 2, which is the lowest.
There are three ways to combine your cards with the community cards:
- Combining your hole cards with the other three community cards
- Combining one of your hole cards with four community cards
- You can forget about your hole cards if the five community cards on the table lead to a better combination
If in the betting process, all of the players fold except for one, then the one remaining player wins the pot without the need to show the cards. And for that reason, players don’t have to hold the best 5-card hand to win the pot. Players can choose to “bluff” in order to get the other players to fold their possibly better hands.
In a situation where two or more players make it all the way to the showdown, after all of the community cards have been dealt and all betting is completed, the pot is won by the player that has the highest-ranking 5-card hand.
How to Play Texas Hold’em
Before the start of the game, the player clockwise of the button (determines which player at the table is the acting dealer) must post the “small blind”, which is and is a forced bet. The player clockwise from the small blind must post the “big blind”, which is two times the amount of the small blind.
The player’s options to play the game are fold, check, call, bet, or raise. If no one has made a bet, then a player can either check (keep their cards and decline to bet) or bet. If a player has placed a bet, then other players can fold, call (match bet’s amount) or raise (increase the bet that was placed by the previous player).
After the first bets have been placed, the first three cards, also known as the flop, are dealt on the board face-up. Flop betting is done clockwise. Players have the same betting options as the pre-flop.
When flop betting is finished, the “turn”, or also known as the 4th community card, is dealt with the face-up on the board and is followed by one more betting round.
After the betting in the fourth round is done, the “river”, which is the 5th community card, is dealt on the board face-up. The final betting of the game takes place, where the same betting rules multiple players remain on the table, then the last player raises or bets shows his/her cards. If there was no betting in the final round, then the player who is clockwise from the bottom is the first to show his/her cards.
The pot is won by the player that has the highest-ranked five-card poker hand. If the winning hands are identical, players with the highest-ranked hands divide the pot equally. After the player receives the winning pot, a new round will start with the button moving to the next player in a clockwise manner.
Pot-Limit Omaha
Pot-Limit Omaha is a poker game similar to Texas Hold’em and is in fact the 2nd most popular poker game in the world. The game exists in casinos for over 10 years, but it rose to popularity in the mid-2000s mostly through high stakes games played at the Full Tilt Poker site.
Pot-Limit Omaha Rules
Many of the playing rules for Pot-Limit Omaha are similar to No-Limit Texas Hold’em. The first thing that players need to understand about this game is the term “Pot-Limit”, which means that in the game you can not bet more than the size the money pot has, so players can’t bet over the pot size, or go All-in.
Each player gets four cards from the dealer, which they use to make their best hand with the combination of exactly two of their cards and three of the five community cards. The community cards are dealt in the same order as in Texas Hold’em, where they are a pre-betting round, a flop, a turn, and a river.
Pot-Limit Omaha also uses the same card rankings as No-Limit Texas Hold’em, where the A is the highest and the 2 is the lowest card. The game is also played with a big and small blind.
At the showdown, the best hand wins the pot, and in the event of a tie, the pot is equally split between the players with the best hand.
How to Play Pot-Limit Omaha
At the beginning of the game, the players place their blinds, then the dealer gives everyone four cards. The player left of the player with the big blind starts, this is the round’s “live” bet. The options of the players are to call, fold, or raise. The betting process goes on in every round to the point where players that haven’t quit have placed identical bets.
After the pre-flop betting is completed, the flop is placed on the board face up. Now, all active players have three cards. The play begins with the active player who is on a clockwise direction of the button, which has the option to start the betting.
When the betting process is completed for the flop stage, the dealer places the “turn” face up on the board. Four cards are now available to all active players, which can now start the next betting round in the same order as the last stage.
After the betting in the turning stage is completed, river, which is the fifth and final card, is dealt on the board face-up. With the reveal of the last card, the final betting round begins.
When the last betting round is done and there are multiple players remaining, the last player to place a bet or raise reveals their cards. If no one places a bet on the final round, the player clockwise of the button reveals their cards first.
The pot is won by the player who has the best 5-card hand. The pot is shared equally in the case of an identical winning hand. After the pot has been won, a new Pot-Limit Omaha game is set to start.
Seven-Card Stud
Seven-Card Stud is a variant of poker, which was the most widely played poker game variant across the USA before the rise of popularity of Texas Hold’em poker. This classic poker game may take a lifetime to master, but we’ll do our best to lay out the most important things that you’ll need before playing this game for real money.
Seven-Card Stud Rules and How to Play
Before the start of the game, the players ante a nominal amount, which is the cost for the delt hand. Then each player receives three cards from the dealer, two of which are hidden and one is faced up. This stage is called the “Third Street”.
The player with the least exposed cards is called the “bring-in” and is the player that starts the action. Players now must choose to either make another nominal bet or a full bet of the lower betting increment. The action continues clockwise until the betting process is completed for the round.
When the betting is finished, each player will receive another exposed card, known as “Fourth Street”. The first player to act is the person that has the highest poker value from the exposed cards. This player can choose to either check or bet the lower structured betting amount. The betting action continues clockwise.
After the betting is finished, each of the players now receives another exposed card, known as “Fifth Street”. Just like the last stage, the player with the highest poker value from the exposed cards is first to act, upon which a betting round starts. All bets in big increments with the start of the Fifth Street until the rest of the hand.
At “Sixth Street,” the players receive another exposed card, and again the first player to act is the person with the highest poker value from the exposed cards. The next betting round follows at this stage.
Finally, the seventh and final card is now dealt with by each player, but this time face down and known only to the player that receives the card. The player which has to act first is the one with the highest poker value from the exposed cards. Now follows the final betting round, and if there is more than one player at the end, then they reach the Showdown.
At the showdown, the player that placed the last bet or raised shows their card first. If there were no bets on the final round, the player in the earliest seat reveals their cards first. Other players expose their hands clockwise around the table.
The pot is won by the player that has the best five-card poker hand. In the unlikely event of identical poker hands, the winning pot will be equally divided between the players with the best poker hands. After the player receives the pot, a new game of Seven-Card Stud will be set to start.